The right wing is in “whatever sticks” mode as it searches for a winning wedge issue to run on nationwide in coming election cycles. Whether it is “the great replacement,” anti-mask and vaccination, Donald Trump’s “stolen” reelection, or critical race theory, underneath it is all the same issue.
With Donald Trump’s election in 2016, the urban-based media went to its standard practice of seeking out White men in rural diners. They hoped to explain why Real Americans™ of the working class accepted a gilded, pompous, xenophobic, womanizer and snake-oil salesman as their personal savior. While the initial explanation was economic anxiety, others on the left pointed to a more facile explanation: racism. Both hot takes have proved inadequate.
Blaming Trumpism on race hatred, though hatred there is, was no more satisfying than economic anxiety. Was Trump’s election White backlash to the election of the first Black president? * Surely. But as I’ve written here repeatedly, the reason is more than skin deep.
CNN reports that national security authorities see ominous signs in White supremacist and anti-government extremists celebrating the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan (emphasis mine):
Several concerning trends have emerged in recent weeks on online platforms commonly used by anti-government, White supremacist and other domestic violent extremist groups, including “framing the activities of the Taliban as a success,” and a model for those who believe in the need for a civil war in the US, the head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, John Cohen, said on a call Friday with local and state law enforcement, obtained by CNN.
Cohen said on the call that DHS has also analyzed discussions centering on “the great replacement concept” a conspiracy theory that immigrants, in this case the relocation of Afghans to the US, would lead to a loss of control and authority by White Americans.
Underneath all of the wedge issues, underneath all of the cri de guerre freak-outs from the conservative fringe is just that: fear of loss of control.
The “alpha male” dominance theory of canine behavior may have been debunked some years ago, but tell that to former Trump advisor Sebastian “the alpha males are back” Gorka. Tell it to Trump himself, a man as obsessed with projecting strength as he is fearful of appearing weak, a man who stokes conflict among underlings to keep any from threatening his status as alpha among alphas.
Cultural and political dominance has been a birthright for White people in this country since its founding. And they mean to keep it by any means necessary. That impulse is more than skin deep. It is This is lizard-brain stuff.
Authorities fear violence against immigrants will see an uptick:
At this time, Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, is not seeing any observed credible threats, or mobilization of online extremist activity, but is concerned that the current online rhetoric highlights ideological concerns and possible threats to public safety, said Joanna Mendelson, associate director of the center.
Extremists often take current events and weave them into their own narrative and worldview, said Mendelson, which is what is taking place in the aftermath of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and amid the humanitarian and military crisis.”
They’re taking the same kind of core tropes and themes, and kind of bigoted views of the world, and injecting them into this current event,” Mendelson told CNN.
There has been a lot of Islamophobia and xenophobia echoed by White supremacists and anti-Muslim activists, claiming that public safety and national security is threatened because they see refugees through a stereotypical lens as being dangerous criminals or terrorists, according to Mendelson.
A core conspiracy guiding White supremacist ideology is the “the great replacement,” the belief that ultimately, the White race is facing its ultimate extinction, she said.
Extinction is pretty primal.
* The Associated Press on July 20, 2020 explained its use of capitalization surrounding Black and white:
After changing its usage rules last month to capitalize the word “Black” when used in the context of race and culture, The Associated Press on Monday said it would not do the same for “white.”
The AP said white people in general have much less shared history and culture, and don’t have the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color.
From organization to organization, the rules vary. I try to be consistent with whatever source I’m citing, but it requires some keyboard gymnastics.