It's an old race-bating trope revived

Once again, an old trope resurfaces. This time around, the rumor that pet cats and dogs are being kidnapped and eaten by immigrants. Race baiting has some deep roots in our nation. The consequences cause fear, repulsion or outright hatred of a specific group of people.

Decades ago, this story appeared in Minneapolis-St. Paul. “…that immigrants from Southeast Asia eat cats and dogs circulated recently in Minneapolis-St. Paul.” Reporters sought comment from the Humane Society. “We got letters from all over the country. They’d say, oh, are they doing that there too? We’ve got that problem with the Haitians.”

“In resurrecting such stories, Americans project a set of prejudices against these immigrants, who are also dismissed as ‘invaders’ who live on welfare and violate our cultural norms.” — Dr. Jan Harold Brunvand, University of Utah, in a guest column titled - Urban Legends, Tales of Eaten Pets.

The person who started the Springfield, Ohio, Haitians eating pets’ rumor is regretful according to a September 14th story from the The Hill. “The woman whose social media post helped ignite false claims of pets being eaten in Springfield, Ohio, said Friday the post was based on a rumor and that she feels remorse for the Haitian immigrants. 

Erika Lee, a Springfield resident, recently authored a post on Facebook, saying that her neighbor’s cat was lost and she was told it was because the pet was attacked by a Haitian immigrant. 

Kimberly Newton, Lee’s neighbor, acknowledged this week to NewsGuard, “I don’t actually know the person who lost the cat.” Newton added that the cat’s owner was “an acquaintance of a friend.” Meanwhile, in Springfield, individual and groups have been threatened, bomb scares are being phoned in. A general onslaught of over-the-top reactions have rocked that city to its core. Welcome to societal insanity caused by a missing cat of “an acquaintance of a friend.” Truth takes a back seat to rumors.

Bob Valen