That’s ancient history, and probably ‘fake news’ as well. The cabbage-eating coal-crackers turn out to be quite pale and are now representative of a totally respected tradition of law enforcement and socially acceptable inebriation, and the ‘Krauts’ that repeatedly tried to take over Europe before they emigrated to the US are now highly respected rocket scientists, physicians, and even (with a bit of Anglicization of last names) presidents. Many politicians like to mouth words about how the United States is a “nation of immigrants” but by that they mean the immigrants of your grandparents’ and greatgrandparents’ day who have since overcome prejudice and fully integrated into American Anglo-Saxon society (i.e. the Nordic peoples), not dark-skinned people who don’t speak good English and come here wanting to do shitty jobs for low pay that no one else wants to take on.
“Replacement theory” is a completely transparent veil for white nationalism and hatred of ‘the Other’, and the people who espouse it are just too gutless or dishonest to step up and admit their actual intent criminalize non-whiteness. All of the nonsense pseudoscience and semantic waffling about national security is just trying to give some patina of respectability to gross bigotry.
“So I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement’, if you suggest the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the third world,” Mr Carlson said. “But they become hysterical because that’s that’s what’s happening actually. Let’s just say it. That’s true.” …
“I’m going to state unequivocally the country is being stolen from American citizens as we watch.” he said in another segment.
Last September he even used the name of the theory, saying the “policy is called the ‘Great Replacement,’” which he said was the “replacement of legacy Americans with more obedient people from faraway countries.”
“your views on immigration will have zero impact and zero influence on a House dominated by Democrats who want to replace you, the American voters, with newly amnestied citizens and an ever increasing number of chain migrants.”
“Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move yet: a PERMANENT ELECTION INSURRECTION,” reads one of the ads, which shows a reflection of migrants in sunglasses Biden is wearing. “Their plan to grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.”
They are all saying the same thing in the same words. Nobody should have any doubt about the literal meaning of Replacement Theory.
The ones reporting the news, of course. News reporters report not only on what’s happening, but why, so that the public can understand events. Understanding the underpinnings of a racist mass murder can be helpful for understanding how to prevent future mass murders.
Failing to do so is like trying to treat a disease without understanding its etiology.
This thread has consistently strayed outside of the bounds of FQ. This is a reminder to all that politics should be avoided in FQ.
That said, due to the nature of the topic, I think this thread will do better in IMHO, so let’s move it there (from FQ). Political comments are therefore no longer off-topic, and of course any factual information is still welcome.
This is a myth that racists would like you to believe. Of course they were immigrant nations, way before their colonized arrived. It’s just that the immigrants were all White Europeans before.
The last quote is an example of an inline definition that I think just states the statistical trend without alluding to strategy or tactics, unless that’s implicit in their use of quotes around “replaced”.
If this is in IMHO, then how does knowing how many times some guy read Mein Kampf, and in which edition, help understand how to prevent future mass murders?
You have to realize this “replacement” notion actually has a long history. That’s what a lot of anti-miscegenation laws were about. It has echos in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Definitely existed in The Turner Diaries. The form of the notion ranges from a simple demographic shift to race mixing to even more sinister and deliberate actions.
Any White people who don’t go along with the program are race traitors, viewed as anything from naive/deluded to actual enemies to be eliminated.
Um… “conservatives” are not the same thing as “White supremacists”
White supremacists believing in the Replacement Theory or similar bullshit will not welcome non-Whites regardless of political stance. At best they might tolerate them living elsewhere in the world, away from White people.
Wait, what? I think all of us posting here believe this. You’re describing just the statistical trend.
I take it the defining element of the theory, according to our conversation here, is the conspiratorial component in a supposed orchestration of the trend, especially if it involves people voting illegally and the like.
I actually think the origin of the theory doesn’t concern itself with intent. Renaud Camus believes it is a bad thing that is happening regardless of intent, I suspect most American white nationalists would say the same. The conspiracy theory part of it is the spice or the juice the idea needs to get really popular with the particular brand of thinking popular among the American right, but I don’t think any of these people are okay with this happening “naturally” versus “the Jews doing it”, they are wholly against it either way.
By the way I don’t think it is so unambiguous that it is really happening. White people will likely be a majority indefinitely in the United States and the worst case scenario is they are a plurality.
White power was absurdly out of proportion compared to the size of the white population verses the rest of the world. “The sun never sets on the English Empire”, is a saying that was proudly touted by the English for many years. All that has been steadily changing for many, many years as the other races and nationalities of the world establish themselves on the world stage.
I truly believe the Republican Right slogan, “Let’s make America great again”, means, “Let’s turn this around and get back our position of total dominance and power.” The reason they are attacking democracy now as part of their propaganda is that they will continue to lose ground if this nation remains a democracy and has a fair vote. Voter suppression and/or an outright takeover like the one that Trump tried to stage is the only way they can stop the inevitable.
I’m sorry. I just don’t see this one as being complex.
If a same-sex couple marries, it automatically nullifies the marriage of an opposite sex couple.
If a baker has to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, he is also legally obligated to participate in the wedding night festivities. Similarly, a wedding photographer would have to photograph the freaky shit that goes down that night (but isn’t legally obligated to join in).
If a Latino is granted amnesty after having entered the country illegally, then a 'Murican must move to Venezuela, Iran, or North Korea.
If you’re transgender, then maybe I am, too.
If you teach my child about LGBTQ existence, then you will turn them either L, G, B, T, or Q – just as explaining the genetic heritability of blue eyes turns people’s brown eyes blue (apologies to Crystal Gayle).
Everything is a zero sum game … according to those who constantly tell us that a rising tide lifts all ships.
I also think that both @Martin_Hyde and @Napier are right: the theory describes the extant statistical trend, and is being used as yet another RW snarl word, ascribing a carefully orchestrated LW plot to gain power by replacing traditionally conservative voters with probably liberal voters.
But it’s little more than xenophobia – same as it ever was – with an ever-so-slightly different wrapper.
“We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”
–Republican Senator Lindsey Graham
But to (illegal) immigration, I’ve long said this:
Yet conservatives are not just aiding and abetting the white supremacists among them but are actively engaged in a conspiracy to support the dissemination of the lie and to elect officeholders who support the theory.
When conservatives cancel Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham and Elise Stefanik (sorry for typoing her name earlier) and the many, many, many other loud voices shouting this as part of their daily package of lies, then and only then can other conservatives be absolved.
I took a look at several major right-wing sites. None of them are mentioning replacement theory. Several are blaming gun control.
Let’s pause here for a moment while you think about that.
What you’re missing is that the shooter deliberately picked a target that was a gun-free zone [paywalled but enough there to get the gist]. If everybody there was armed he couldn’t have done it. This argument is being advanced while I have yet to see a mention that the security guard literally shot him but his armor prevented any harm.
Conservatives are the problem, not just the extremists. I can’t find any lines to draw that would separate the extremists from the leaders. If everyone feeding you the news thinks the same way and makes the same points and demonizes the left for the same reasons, then the entire continuum collapses into a black hole of alternative reality.
The main problem with White Replacement Theory is that it’s a safe way to appeal to white supremacist leanings, especially unconscious white supremacy.
Everybody knows that white supremacy is not socially acceptable. Outside of a few nutballs, few will admit to thinking that whites should rule supreme over nonwhites. But if you phrase it as “nonwhite people are entering the country in enough numbers to turn elections against you”, that’s significantly more acceptable, though it amounts to the same thing.
Elections = power. When you say that nonwhite people are coming to swing elections in their favor, that means they’re taking your power away. Why does that scare you? Because instinctively you prefer nonwhite people not to have power. That means you prefer white people to have supreme power, ergo you’re a white supremacist.
The only logical answer to the lack of guns in minority communities is for the government to give away free guns and ammunition. Arm them all. When everybody in a black neighborhood is packing heat white gunmen will finally behave themselves.
Others have also made the sage point that the majority fears that the minority – if and when the tables are turned – will treat them in much the same way as they were treated.
