John Legend on Thursday addressed Donald Trump‘s assault on Haitian immigrants within the singer’s hometown Springfield, Ohio.
Through the presidential debate Tuesday, the previous president instructed that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are taking on town.
“They’re consuming the canines. They’re consuming the cats. They’re consuming the pets of the folks that stay there,” he mentioned.
In a video posted to social media Thursday, Legend reminded his followers that he grew up in Springfield.
“You’ll have heard of Springfield, Ohio this week,” the “All of Me” singer mentioned. “In reality, should you watched the controversy, we have been mentioned by our presidential candidates, together with a really particular, attention-grabbing man named Donald J. Trump.”
Legend spent a number of minutes talking in regards to the historical past of Springfield. “Our metropolis had been shrinking for many years,” he mentioned. “We didn’t have sufficient jobs, we didn’t have sufficient alternative. So individuals left and went some place else. So after I was there, we had upward of 75,000 individuals. And within the final 5 years, we have been down to love 60,000 individuals. However of late, in the course of the Biden administration, there have been extra jobs that opened up, extra manufacturing jobs, extra vegetation, factories that wanted staff and have been prepared to rent individuals. So we acquired a variety of job alternatives, and we didn’t have sufficient individuals in our city of 60,000 individuals to fill these jobs. And through the identical time, there had been upheaval and turmoil in Haiti, and the federal authorities granted visas and immigration standing to a sure variety of Haitian immigrants so they may come to our nation legally.”
The singer mentioned Springfield added “15,000 or so immigrants” to the inhabitants of 60,000. “You would possibly say, ‘Wow, that’s lots of people.’ For a city that solely had 60,000 earlier than, that’s a 25 p.c improve. That’s right.”
He acknowledged challenges that arose on account of the demographic shift. “You may think there are some challenges with integrating a brand new inhabitants, new language, new tradition, new dietary preferences. Every kind of the explanation why there could be rising pains — ensuring there are sufficient providers to accommodate the brand new bigger inhabitants which may want bilingual service suppliers, and many others., and many others. So there are many the explanation why this could be a problem for my hometown.”
Regardless, Legend mentioned: “The underside line is these individuals got here to Springfield as a result of there have been jobs for them, they usually have been prepared to work, they usually wished to stay the American Dream.”
He in contrast the tales of these in Springfield to “your German ancestors, your Irish ancestors, your Italian ancestors, your Jewish ancestors, your Jamaican ancestors, your Polish ancestors. All these ancestors have been moved to this nation, perhaps not talking the language that everybody else spoke, perhaps not consuming the identical meals, perhaps having to regulate.”
He continued, “However all coming as a result of they noticed alternative for themselves and their households within the American dream, they usually got here right here to do this.”
Legend then spoke about embracing immigrants in all communities. “Some information about immigrants,” he mentioned. “They normally do very properly right here. They’re hardworking, they’re bold. They commit much less crime than native-born People, and they’ll assimilate and combine in time. But it surely takes time, so I believe all of us have to have the identical sort of grace that we’d need our ancestors to have.”
He added: “No person’s consuming cats, no one’s consuming canines. All of us simply need to stay and flourish and lift our households in a wholesome and secure setting. How about we love each other?”
Legend’s assertion ended with him posing a query to his followers — “I grew up within the Christian custom. We mentioned to like our neighbor as we love ourselves and deal with strangers as if they could be Christ. How about we undertake that ethos, after we speak about immigrants shifting to our communities, and don’t unfold, hateful, xenophobic, racist lies about them?”