A white supremacist opened fire in a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday. Ten people were killed, and three others were wounded. Of the eleven victims, eleven were Black. The horrific attack showed the influence of other massacres by the terrorist wing of the “alt-right” that took place during the Trump presidency. These attacks are now part of the mainstream right wing’s conspiratorial ideology. They also fit into the long history of anti-Black violence and white supremacist lynchings that have been taking place for centuries.
Six other far right-wing attacks claimed the lives of 86 people between 2018 and 2019. Their targets were Muslims (51 victims in Christchurch, New Zealand), Latino immigrants (33/23 in El Paso) as well as Jews (11 in Pittsburgh). The Christchurch massacre set the stage for other white supremacists to follow: creating a lengthy manifesto, placing it on an internet platform associated with the alt right before the violence, and livestreaming the attack.
The Christchurch shooting drew worldwide attention. “Great Replacement” conspiracy theoryThis is a widespread belief in the global right wing. This theory suggests that there is an intentional plan for changing the demographics in majority-white countries with a majority population of people of color. It often claims that Muslims and Latinos will be the main replacements. In extreme right-wing politics, Jews are believed to be behind this plan. The Democratic Party is the moderate version. Both are controlled by George Soros, the financier.
The Buffalo shooter used the Great Replacement Theory, as well as other centuries-old racist tropes concerning Black intelligence, sexuality, violence and sexuality. The attack is another instance of a much older U.S. tradition of mass murder of Black people in the name of white supremacy, one of the most recent examples being Dylann Roof’s 2015 massacre of nine people during a Bible study at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Racial justice advocates point out that police and other state agents also regularly commit anti-Black violence.
Christchurch was the latest twist on global white supremacist movements. “ecofascism”One of its motivations. This combination of traditional fascist politics with environmentalism goes back to the “blood and soil” wing of the original German Nazi party. The new ecofascism supports immigration bans in white-majority areas — only this time, supposedly to protect the environment. The perpetrator of this most recent attack specifically offered up a self-description of being an “ethno-nationalist eco-fascist national socialist.” Dany Sigwalt of the Movement for Black Lives’ Black Hive, a coalition of Black activists and organizations working to lift up Black environmental activists, says some responsibility for the appeal of ecofascism lies with the mainstream environmental movement. Because it did not understand issues of race and colonialism, it “has opened the door for a wave of eco-fascists who see killing Black people are a climate solution.”
The Buffalo-based group Black Love Resists in the Rust said they were “extremely outraged by today’s horrific incident,” which “was nothing less than an act of domestic terrorism. Our hearts are with every individual and family directly impacted by this incident.” The group organized a Sunday morning vigil, and joined “with other community organizations to provide long-term mental health and food access support to people who are impacted,” according to its Facebook page.
This attack is a disturbing sign that alt-right ideology continues its attacks on historically oppressed peoples in the U.S. This movement gained momentum in 2015 and was able to unify white supremacist activists and more moderate far right populists, allowing people of color, Jews, and gay men to join (the so called alt-lite). In doing so, it created the first new wave of open organized white supremacist politics since the 1980s and ‘90s.
Together, the two wings of the alt-right — fueled by shared approaches like their innovative use of the internet, misogyny, Islamophobia, conspiracy theories, and using irony to both promote its ideas and refuse responsibility for its actions — helped elect Trump. Although a number of individuals and groups popular today have their origins in it — such as Jack Posobiec, Andy Ngo, the Groypers and the Proud Boys — the alt-right seems to have mostly burned out as a specific movement in the last couple years.
The massacre’s perpetrator was only 11 years old when Trump’s campaign started, and between 13 and 15 years old when he was in power — the period that the alt-right flourished. The Buffalo massacre shows that both the alt-right’s ideology, as well as the specific techniques it pioneered, remain influential and deadly today in a country whose history is marked by white supremacist violence.
