FILE PHOTO – Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

Everyone knows Springfield, Ohio by now. You go down the road, and take a left turn at 1965.

Or maybe a right turn at 1924.

It’s a place where people are less concerned about any of us than about the dog and cat population.

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Of course, the dogs and cats there are a lot safer than you think.

Dog eating usually perks the ears of Asian Americans, many of whom of a variety of ethnicities have been known to partake.

For some Filipinos, “pulutan” may as well be a breed of dog. Historically, in America Filipinos were once heralded as dog-eaters. In the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis where our dog-eating was on display, it was considered the reason why Filipinos must be civilized by colonization.

In 2024, eating dog and cat rap is still being used as a slur to “other” innocent Haitians, who JD Vance actually said come from “Haisia.” (A slip up or a slur?)

Recently, the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal definitively debunked the dog and cat slurs Trump/Vance are making about Springfield  as outright lies.

WSJ verified that the Trump campaign knew the dog and cat rumors were lies on or before debate night and Trump still spread the slurs to the 67 million who watched the debate.

Even JD Vance knew the truth before and after the debate, but still continues to lie about cats and dogs to this day.

When the Trump-Vance campaign is fueled on lies, the facts are irrelevant.

Said JD Vance on CNN:  “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Sounds like the Hitler playbook rule written by Joseph Goebbels: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”

But the truth is this: No dogs and cats were harmed in this story ever. Only the credibility of politicians. That is, if you believe credibility is important. (I hope you do.)

Asians in Springfield

As I was calling around Springfield ,  Vivek Ramaswamy was preparing a town hall there, so he is literally an Asian in Springfield. One of the few.

What’s not really reported is that Springfield is what America would look like without any of us.

By “us,” I mean Asian Americans specifically.

But let’s include all of us. Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans.

Springfield is the America before the 1965 Immigration Act did away with racist quotas and allowed Asians to America.

Springfield is the America of 1924 and the immigration law that first established those racist quotas on Asians.

But here is Springfield today, population 58, 082, according to the latest US Census data:

American Indian: 0.1 percent

Asian: 0.7 percent

Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander: 0.1 percent

African American: 17.4 percent

Hispanic: 4.9 percent

White alone: 72.18

Can you imagine 0.7 percent Asian nation in 2024?

Add our 0.1 percent NHPIs and even at 0.8 percent, Asian Americans are practically invisible in Springfield.

So here are two truths: There are barely any Asians there, and  there’s no dog and cat eaten in Springfield.

But  guess what?

Springfield loves to eat Asian food.

White egg roll 

On my internet search for the best Asian food in Springfield, there were at least ten eateries on the list.

Unfortunately, when I called to ask what the restaurant owners thought of the “Springfield story,” they all hung up on me. Typical Asian? When you’re 0.8 percent, you’d think they’d want to rock the boat a little bit.

The internet served up a place called  Charlo’s Provisions and Eatery as an “Asian” place, maybe because it has a popular egg roll.

Chad Druckenbroad, 42, picked up the phone and said because it’s an egg roll, it’s kind of Asian. But it’s filled with brisket and roasted poblano pimento cheese.

“They’re kind of Southern egg rolls,” he said.

But not Southern China. Just southern white.

Druckenbroad’s eatery is right in the city’s downtown. He lamented how the weekend of the Autumnal Equinox was supposed to be a cultural food fair for the city, with restaurants representing different parts of the world coming together.

But it was cancelled because of the fear of violence generated by the political lies. Instead, as he talked to me, the downtown was prepping for that town hall by Ramaswamy ready to capitalize on all the fear.

Druckenbroad said his restaurant has been affected by the bomb threats, “but nothing dramatic.” He said he still gets calls if they “serve dog and cat and stuff like that.”

“You know it’s illegal to serve that stuff in America,” he told me over the phone. “I serve pork chops and steaks. I do have catfish on the menu.”

He said the town is better than people think. He added he was disappointed the culture festival was cancelled. “Springfield’s a very welcoming community,” he said. “They’re just interviewing the wrong people.”

Sure, the town has a Neo-Nazi problem. But there’s plenty of normal folk like Druckenbroad who just want to live their lives and get along with everyone.

He said most people in town aren’t affected by the Haitians. “They’re more worried about the price of groceries than they are about immigrants,” he said. He believes the Haitians have helped the community more than hurt it. He said he mostly sees Haitians when they come to his restaurant as DoorDash drivers to pick up takeout food.

Most of all of the 15,000 or so Haitians there (more than all the Asians in Springfield) are also there legally. They aren’t undocumented.

Druckenbroad just wishes Trump and Vance never started all the lies. But he doesn’t think it’s going to impact Springfield.

“If you drive around, there’s nothing but Trump signs everywhere,” he said.

I ask if Trump and Vance should just stop telling the lies.

“I mean, if they don’t have their facts straight, then yeah,” said the man with the best white egg rolls in town. “You don’t want to be out there spreading lies.”

Of course, that’s exactly what Trump/Vance are doing.

Still,  will it change people’s votes? Or his?

He had a hard time answering.

Call it good people stuck with bad leaders. Unable to do the right thing.

Or too ashamed to call it out in public.

Meanwhile, all of us in more diverse places like California, New York and Hawaii may have to live with all their bad choices.

Trump is planning a visit there in the next two weeks. Let’s hope he does the right thing. Not visit and stop telling lies.

But it will be hard. He loves what Springfield stands for, his image of an America of the past, the vast majority white.

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He’s covered race and politics from Hawaii to Washington, DC, where he was the first Filipino American to host a national news show at NPR’s “All Things Considered.” See his micro talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.

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