Several longtime regular speakers at the commission meetings suggested city officials brought the flood of bomb threats and threatening calls of the past two weeks on themselves by failing to listen to citizens’ concerns and dismissing their comments as racially motivated.
There was also an increasing number of speakers calling for unity and support of the Haitian community.
Jacob Payen, representing the Haitian Community Alliance, addressed Mayor Rob Rue to thank him and other city officials for “the wonderful job you are doing in the community.” He urged the city of Springfield to “embrace unity.”
Payen, who is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and fought in the Persian Gulf, said “we need to come together as a city. We need to come together as Americans. We need to stop the nonsense.”
Diana Daniels, who is a regular speaker at commission sessions, argued that those who have expressed concerns about the immigrant population in Springfield have been falsely labeled as “racists.”
“Every time a citizen got up here and had a concern, there was push back. ‘Oh no, that’s racist. That’s xenophobic,’ when in fact you were not listening to what was said underneath. ... The city commission and someone decided race needed to be the issue.”
Jessica Schafer, a lifelong resident of Springfield, used her time at the podium to say she is “tired of being told I should fear migrants (while) what I fear are the doors that we have opened.”
“We have Proud Boys and white supremacists marching in our streets,” Schafer said. “I fear for the families and children I serve as a mental health therapist … for the refugee and immigrant families and kids who have done nothing but escape and try to find safety. I fear for the Black children that I work with … the children I work with are not afraid of migrants; they fear the hate that is being spewed out of the adults in this community’s mouths … can you please have decency and stop this.”
Pastor Carl Ruby acknowledged that there have been challenges for the community but recognized community leaders, including the city commissioners, for working to deal with challenges.
“People from here and from many other places are responding. We are working through these challenges,” Ruby said. “And there is room for others to join in and act with that same goodwill and kindness … We can show the world the goodness that resides in Springfield.”
Springfield Attorney Randall Comer also invited the community to rise to the challenges it faces, invoking the words of Ronald Reagan as he underscored his support for the Haitians new to Springfield.
Citing Reagan’s farewell address to the nation, Comer recalled Reagan’s reference to “the shining city.”
“… In my mind, it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace — a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
This can be a defining moment for the city, Comer said.
“We must strive with all our might to reach the higher ideals of our humanity — courage, compassion, love and kindness. We must set the example. In this moment, we must be the shining city on the hill.”
About the Author