NEW ORLEANS - The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana is urging the House of Representatives to censure U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins for his racist, false, and dangerous tweet about Haitians. In a tweet posted on September 25, which has since been deleted, Rep. Higgins repeated the debunked claim that Haitians eat pets and described Haiti as “…the nastiest country in the Western Hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters…” He went on to threaten, “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
The following is a statement from ACLU of Louisiana executive director Alanah Odoms.
“Rep. Clay Higgins’ tweet endangers the thousands of Haitian Louisianans who contribute to the fabric of our state. We’ve seen the consequences of this kind of rhetoric. After Donald Trump repeated similar racist lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, a wave of bomb threats shut down public buildings, including schools. We must act now to prevent the same from happening in Louisiana. The U.S. House of Representatives must censure Rep. Higgins immediately for the harm he continues to inflict.”
“The Louisiana we cherish would not exist without the influence and resilience of Haitians. In 1804, self-liberated enslaved Haitians fought for their freedom in the Haitian Revolution, leading to a mass migration to New Orleans that helped shape the city’s culture — its food, architecture, religion, and music. Today, hundreds of Haitian Louisianan small-business owners and workers continue to enrich our communities. Yet, white supremacist attacks on Haitians persist. Rep. Higgins’ remarks are just another example of this ongoing hatred.”
This is the second instance in which Rep. Higgins has used social media to promote dangerous and racist rhetoric, prompting the ACLU of Louisiana to call for his censure. In 2020, during protests following the killing of Trayford Pellerin by Lafayette police, Rep. Higgins posted threats on Facebook, vowing to shoot Black protesters.
