US President Joe Biden recently described the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory as a “source of murderous enmity.”
Right-wing politicians and media personalities, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Republican politicians, have echoed the claim.
According to analysts, the hypothesis is becoming more prevalent as a result of mass shootings in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.
The Buffalo incident is a current example of how the idea incites violence. The white gunman, who is suspected of killing ten black people in the incident, had also discussed the “great replacement” thesis online.
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“I urge on all Americans to reject the falsehood, and I condemn those who promote it for power, political benefit, and profit,” President Biden stated following the attack on Tuesday in Buffalo, New York.
The “great replacement” thesis was also addressed several times in a manifesto related to the Buffalo gunman, who authorities say targeted the area in a racist, anti-Black hate crime.
What is the ‘Great Replacement’ Theory, and how does it work?
According to the National Immigration Forum, the “Great Replacement” thesis usually uses a martial and aggressive terminology of a migrant “invasion” that must be stopped before it “conquers white America.”
White people are being displaced and losing their social position as a result of a plot to boost non-white immigration and other factors, such as non-white birth rates, according to the white nationalist conspiracy.
While researchers have stressed that the conspiracy’s worldview is not unique to the United States, they have warned that in the wake of the Buffalo killings, the “Great Replacement” concept has taken centre stage in public conversation.
Notable journalist Mehdi Hasan posed a query about the hypothesis when speaking at a programme and exposing the “double standards” of western white media.
“If you and I (brown Muslim guys) were on TV echoing and speaking the racist and conspiratorial stuff that Muslim brown terrorists were saying,” he remarked.
“How can conservative cable hosts practically say the same things that white supremacist terrorists say?” He inquired.
According to Al-Jazeera, a study conducted by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center found that nearly 32% of Americans believe “that a group of people is attempting to replace native-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gain.”
