9/23/24

A Visit to Springfield, Ohio

By Lee Goodman

We just returned from Springfield, Ohio.

The townsfolk are traumatized. They have been the focus of national attention because Trump and Vance have been spreading lies about migrants who are there legally, accusing them of doing things that they are not doing. The lies have been proven false, and yet they continue to be spread among right-wing extremists.

The lies are hurting the migrants and others who live in Springfield. The city had to close schools because of bomb threats. Gun-toting neo-Nazis were wandering through the town, so people are afraid to go out on the streets. Police have installed an elevated observation platform downtown so they can detect any emergent danger, and they have posted guards outside City Hall.

Springfield is like so many other American towns that have experienced declining population and jobs. Old downtown buildings with elaborate carved stone ornamentation are evidence that the town once prospered. One had broken windows. Just blocks away from downtown, there are condemned houses and vacant lots where buildings would have once stood. Mansions that would have housed captains of industry have been broken up into apartments.

For the most part, though, things looked pretty good. There were murals on the walls of buildings, a neatly landscaped fountain plaza, sculptures in small parks, and a healthy number of restaurants and shops. As we walked along a downtown sidewalk, we ran across a video crew recording short, “Springfield Strong!” segments where local business people boasted of their pride in their city. It was obvious that the townsfolk have been working to rebuild, and news stories indicate that their efforts are paying off. Springfield's recent comeback is in part credited to its conscious efforts to welcome migrants, who are an important part of the town's labor force.

We attended an interfaith service where pastors and bishops from area churches coaxed people to trust that God would protect them and get them through the challenges the town was facing. A number of people told us they appreciated that we came all the way from Chicago to support their community. We ate a delicious dinner at a Haitian restaurant that was next to a Hispanic market in a strip mall. Everywhere we went, everyone was getting along. There was no evidence of the chaos and criminality that the MAGA folks have been screaming about.

We saw an antique road construction machine in the window of a history museum. It was a Buffalo-Springfield, a brand of steamroller that was once made in the town. The machine's name was the inspiration for the name of a 1960s folk-rock band. The lyrics to a hit song of theirs seemed to have been written for today. The song begins, “There's something happening here, What it is ain't exactly clear, There's a man with a gun over there, Telling me I got to beware.” The chorus implores, “It's time we stop, Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look, what's going down?” We asked the young man in a breakfast shop if he knew the band or the song, and he said he did not. So we found the recording online and played it for him. “Oh yeah, my grandpa used to play that!” he said with a grin.

We were told that next week the gun-toters have said they will return. Because people are so worried about this threat, they canceled their upcoming fall festival. They are tired of the shouting and the aggression. They feel their town is being misrepresented and their lives interrupted. But there isn't much they can do, because it is legal for the intruders to march around Springfield with loaded rifles and concealed firearms. No background check, license, or permit is required.

We got home in time to watch the evening news, where it was reported that Trump has been spreading anti-immigrant venom about Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Local officials say immigrants aren't a problem there. But Trump isn't interested in the truth or in Charleroi. It is a tiny town of just a few thousand people. Not many votes for Trump to win there. Trump's real objective is to get votes all over the US by making up stories about the harms immigrants are doing. He knows that almost no one will go to either town to see for themselves, and he has trained his supporters not to pay attention to news reports that expose his lies. He calls it fake news. The damage he does to Springfield and Charleroi doesn't matter to him. Those towns are just names pulled out of a hat. Your town could be in that hat, too.