By: Shirley Raposo
The “Great Replacement Theory or White Genocide” is a theory that states that there is a conspiracy to replace the white population of Europe and other Western countries through mass immigration of non-white people. According to this theory, the “globalist” elite would be behind this conspiracy, aiming at the destruction of Western cultures and global domination.
It is important to note that notions of population substitution and fears of loss of national identity exist long in history. For example, the father of French nationalism, Maurice Barrès, wrote about the supposed threat of a new population that would destroy French national identity as early as the beginning of the 20th century.
The French writer Renaud Camus popularized the term “great replacement” in his book The Great Replacement in 2011. Camus argues that mass immigration is leading to the gradual replacement of Europe’s white, Christian population with a non-white Muslim population.
This racist and xenophobic theory [también llamada Teoría de la Sustitución, ndt.] gains echo precisely at a time of worsening living conditions of the world working class and an intense migration crisis, where refugees are seen as a threat and used as scapegoats. The aim is to instill fear and mistrust towards refugees and immigrants.
The consequence is radicalization and violence
Since the creation of this theory, it has been promoted by far-right groups throughout Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world. The theory has been associated with acts of violence, such as the shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, which killed 51 people.
In the case of the Buffalo shooter, an 18-year-old white male, fatally shot 10 people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last year. He shot 13 people, 11 of whom were black. “This individual came here for the express purpose of taking as many Black lives as possible.Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.
According to the authorities who investigated the case, he researched the demographics of the cities in the region and chose the one with the largest number of blacks. He lived in Conklin, also in New York, 330 km from Buffalo. He was a supporter of this theory, as stated in his manifesto.
Bolsonaro and Trump promote racist hatred and against immigrants
During his tenure as President of the United States, Donald Trump made comments that echoed some of the central ideas of “Great Replacement Theory.” In particular, Trump stressed the need to strengthen US immigration policies and borders, arguing that uncontrolled immigration threatened the identity and security of white Americans.
While Trump never explicitly used the term “great replacement,” some of his comments and policies are in line with this conspiracy theory. Trump used the immigration issue as a political tactic to inflame nationalist sentiments and win the support of conservative white voters.
In his 2016 election campaign, Trump claimed that “[México] He is sending people with many problems, and they are bringing us these problems. They’re bringing drugs, crime and rapists”. Inciting hate and selling the “solution” of a wall to separate the United States and Mexico.
In an interview for the newspaper Goias option On September 18, 2015, Bolsonaro made a xenophobic speech commenting on the budget for the Armed Forces and a possible reduction in its personnel:
“I don’t know what the support of the commanders is, but if they come to reduce the number (of the Armed Forces), there are fewer people on the streets to confront the marginalized MST, who are now being fattened by Senegalese, Haitians, Iranians, Bolivians and all the scum of the world, true, and now the Syrians are coming here too. The scum of the world is coming here to our Brazil as if we didn’t already have too many problems to solve. This is the big problem we can have”.
These ideas aim to mobilize grassroots support to legitimize policies that criminalize immigrants, deny them access to basic rights and resources, and place them in situations of vulnerability and exploitation.
migration crisis
More than 3,000 migrants died in 2021 trying to reach Europe by sea. Entire families left their homes and communities to face risky land or sea crossings, hoping to find safety, employment and food.
The extreme poverty generated by the spoliation policies applied by the allied governments of China and the imperialist countries in Sub-Saharan Africa leads thousands of people to have to resort to the mafias to try to reach Europe. These people are forced to flee their countries in search of a better life due to the circumstances in which they find themselves.
Unfortunately, many of these migrants are exploited by mafias that turn the horror of war and poverty into a highly profitable business. These images of fear and uncertainty flood social media, drawing media attention to one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II, along with the Covid pandemic.
The globalization of the economy, the economic crisis, the ecological crisis and the polarization of the class struggle are causing new waves of migration and important political crises. The flight of civilians from wars, extreme poverty and climatic and natural disasters in the African and Asian continents are the main causes of these migratory waves.
The real root of the socioeconomic and migration problems facing the world today lies in the global capitalist system, which perpetuates inequality and exploitation. The relentless pursuit of profit and economic growth has led to an unequal distribution of resources and opportunities, creating a disparity between developed and developing countries.
The migration crisis is inevitable in imperialist capitalism
Capitalism spread throughout the world through wars and colonization, creating a global market that brings workers from all over the world into contact. This is different from earlier forms of social organization, where villages were separate and unable to communicate with each other. The uneven development in each country causes a higher or lower rate of employment and remuneration, which is perceived by the workers who are now in contact.
On the one hand, there are the imperialist countries, where most of the world capital is concentrated, offering the best conditions of survival to their working class. On the other hand, there are the countries that sustain the wealth of the richest, that offer worse conditions for their working class. The former end up attracting workers from all over the world, losing few people to other countries, while the latter lose more people than they receive. When a country suffers some calamity, be it natural, economic, health or military, people tend to flee en masse.
There are also the so-called emerging countries that, although subordinated to imperialism, have better conditions than their neighbors. These countries attract people on a smaller scale compared to the imperialists and lose on a smaller scale relative to their neighbors. This is the case of Brazil, which sees part of its population migrate to the US and Europe, but which receives Venezuelans, Angolans, Haitians, Bolivians, Syrians, and peoples of other nationalities.
Countries that receive immigrants and refugees deal with them in different ways, each with its own legislation, with more or less restrictions. In general, these workers are subjected to harsh working conditions, worse than those of local workers. These legal discriminations force immigrants to live in ghettos, occupying the most precarious jobs, increasing the profitability of the capital of each company that hires them.
International solidarity and fight against racism
As if the problems faced by people seeking refuge were not enough, capitalists take advantage of these people by offering them remuneration well below that practiced for local workers, putting downward pressure on overall wages across the country.
Local workers are upset to see their incomes reduced as a side effect of the over-exploitation of the refugees. Far-right groups use xenophobic and racist ideologies, such as the Great Replacement, to channel this outrage against vulnerable workers who migrate to their countries.
The “Great Replacement Theory” targets whites born in countries that receive immigrants and refugees to serve the interests of big business. It is with the support of this section of our class that they pass laws that increase our exploitation and further lower our wages and rights, especially for the oppressed. It is with the increasingly extreme violence practiced by whites that the working class, which is diverse and plural, becomes even more divided.
Immigrant, refugee and racialized workers are already resisting this violence, both from the bourgeoisie and from the State and from whites who adhere to these ideologies. It is vital that class movements join this resistance and combat these ideologies, including their white members. Above all, because they penetrate these organizations, which begin to reproduce both ideology and violence.
However, so that there is no more separation between races and nations, and so that there are no more exploited and oppressed, it is necessary to put an end to the capitalist system in each country and in the world as a whole. Only a socialist society could, in effect, eliminate these contradictions and unify the exploited in building a world welcoming to all nationalities.
References
https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2022/05/25/alimentada-por-republicanos-e-fox-news-tese-conspiratoria-racista-fomenta-violencia-nos-eua
https://news.un.org/pt/story/2022/04/1787722
https://litci.org/pt/2018/08/27/abajo-la-xenofobia-en-defesa-dos-refugiados-vive-la-unidad-de-los-trabajadores/
https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/trump-chama-de-buracos-de-merda-haiti-e-outros-paises-da-america-central-e-africa.ghtml
https://gq.globo.com/Prazeres/Poder/noticia/2018/01/antes-de-trump-bolsonaro-ja-se-referencia-imigrantes-como-escoria-do-mundo.html
https://g1.globo.com/mundo/blog/sandra-cohen/post/2022/05/16/teoria-racista-da-grande-substituicao-motivou-autor-do-massacre-em-buffalo.ghtml
https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/mundo/mexico-leva-drogas-crime-e-estupro-aos-eua-diz-pre-candidato-donald-trump-5mf12hs2fb5fw06hxl6q2jmok/
https://teoriaerevolucao.pstu.org.br/o-fenomeno-migratorio-ea-logica-do-capital-algumas-reflexoes-iniciais/
Article published in www.pstu.org.br, 4/4/2023.-
Translation: Natalia Estrada.