They picked Haitians bc Haitians represent racists' deepest fear: a race war they lost. Enslaved Black Americans could & did terrorize slaveowners -- deservedly -- but Haiti was their nightmare scenario. Uppity Blacks! Who became a power! And would've kept going but for US & European dirty dealing!

ding ding ding!!! exactly this

The tried and true anti-semitic fear-stoking would be in full bloom too, save for the fact that they also want to blow up other brown people in Gaza (most of us do remember jewish space lasers, etc.) and that means not leaning into that classic as well.

Absolutely. I remember my racist father particularly obsessed with the Live and Let Die Bond villains for this reason. Even as a kid, I sensed the titillating draw he had to the subject matter. I couldn’t watch.

I'm still baffled. Aren't those Haitians here legally? So they fall outside his "illegals" rhetoric. Purely race then? They're black and have an accent? I guess that's all it takes for him.

It’s classic dehumanizing of a scapegoat to raise fear and anxiety. I actually read history and I will never follow where that leads. Ever.

They will never forgive François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture.

Plus bonus QAnon links - a bunch of the QAnon 'content' has references Haiti, so it extra-psyches folks in that particular niche.

I am halfway through CLR James's The Black Jacobins at the moment. Unusually for a Marxist intellectual, he can write vividly and wonderfully.

They know full well Haitian immigrants aren't eating pets. They pull this shit out whenever they want to try a race war again; they just mix up whatever's getting eaten depending on their targets. Black people? Random animals. Jewish people? Children. Asian people? Dogs.

I don't think it is that complicated. They are black immigrants who are coming in relatively large numbers, but aren't Latino so you don't have to be careful about offending Latinos while stirring up xenophobia to get their vote.