Alarming 'replacement theory' fuels violence and terrorizes people of color
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen:
Last Saturday's massacre of 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, was a terrifying crime and horrific terror assault on fellow Americans.
Even worse was to learn that the suspect's alleged motives were based on the "Great Replacement Theory," a racist premise that suggests that nonwhite people are seeking to take the place of and marginalize white, or Anglo, Americans, and violence is the answer.
It is a reaction over many years to enhanced visibility, growing immigration of residents from non-European nations, higher birth rates among Latinos and Asians, and enfranchisement of nonwhite voters.
One of the first columns I ever wrote for Gaceta Tropical, a Spanish-language publication in Southwest Florida, criticized the position of the late Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington in a 2004 edition of "Foreign Policy." It was titled: "The Hispanic Challenge."
Huntington wrote: "The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves — from Los Angeles to Miami -— and rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril."
What might have been an obscure academic argument two decades ago calling for changes in government policy has entered into dark territory, engendering violence against racial and ethnic minority groups.
Consider the 2019 massacre of 23 El Paso residents by a man who authorities say intended to kill Mexican Americans motivated by replacement theory — just because they were of Mexican descent.
Meanwhile, USA TODAY reported recently that the head of the Border Patrol's union was proclaiming that the Biden administration was weakening the border to "change the demographics of the electorate."
Several of Tennessee's Republican members of Congress have made border security a top concern to alarm voters.
This comes at a time when the Latino population has soared in the state.
These fearmongering tactics are not new, but they are not right.
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In this week's newsletter, you will also find:
The Leaf Chronicle in Clarksville writes about immigrant U.S. soldiers making a home in Fort Campbell, led by Team Leader Rene Herrera, who is originally from Mexico.
In my latest column, I celebrate the recent promises for more affordable housing, but urge private industry and government to accelerate their action.
Learn more about Ada Ferrer, who won the Pulitzer Prize in History for her book "Cuba: An American History."
Happy week! ¡Muchas gracias!
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Great replacement theory' fuels violence, terrorizes people of color
