Washington, D.C. – This past weekend, a white supremacist shot and killed 10 individuals in Buffalo, New York’s predominantly Black neighborhood. An online post from the shooter revealed he was motivated by right-wing lies echoing the “Great Replacement Theory.” Across the country, deadly mass shootings spanned from coast to coast this past weekend, including in Buffalo, New York; Laguna Woods, California, and Houston Texas.
Juanita Monsalve, Senior Marketing & Creative Director of United We Dream, said:
“We mourn with the families of those killed in the shooting that happened in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, NY this weekend. We have yet again witnessed the tangible and deadly consequences of the right-wing’s false, dehumanizing, and racist narratives. The shooter was motivated by the racist “Great Replacement Theory.” This racist disinformation about Black, brown, and immigrant communities is being spread at an alarming rate by various actors, from leaders of the Republican party to Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson. These lies have emboldened racist acts of violence and hate. From the white supremacist and anti-immigrant attack in El Paso that killed 23 people to the uptick in hate crimes against Asians amidst COVID-19 to the most recent Buffalo shooting.
This embrace of the “Great Replacement Theory,” is also tied to a push by these same people to ban teaching the history of racism in our schools, and banning books by Black, brown, and LGBTQ authors across the country. Their words are inspiring action. It’s critical to understand that racialized disinformation is more than just falsehoods. The anti-immigrant narrative is disinformation, and as we saw this weekend, it’s deadly. More than just the politicians and right-wing influencers who espouse these racist lies are the advertisers and corporations who enable them to go unchecked. We need Congress to pass legislation that keeps deadly weapons from white supremacists who have been emboldened, but we also need a holistic understanding that unless we stop this anti-Black and anti-immigrant hate speech, Black and brown people will continue to be terrorized.”
