FEATURING IBRAM X KENDI - The authoritarianism on full display in Donald Trump’s second term as president has a very long and sordid history, not just in the United States but all over the world. In a timely and powerful new book, acclaimed historian Ibram X Kendi traces the history of what has been called The Great Replacement theory, to help us understand the domestic turmoil we find ourselves in.
Ibram X Kendi, is one of the world’s foremost historians of racism and a leading antiracist scholar. He is Professor of History at Howard University, and the founding director of the Howard Institute for Advanced Study. He is the author of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning,as well as the international bestseller How to Be an Antiracist, among other titles. He discussed his new book, Chain of Ideas: The Origins of our Authoritarian Age with Sonali Kolhatkar.
ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:
Sonali Kolhatkar: So, we have heard of this idea, the “great replacement theory.” I've heard it when I've studied Tucker Carlson's coverage on Fox News, for example. And I mentioned the Trump administration's second term, but really we should even mention the first term when we saw white supremacists marching on streets of American cities. What is the “great replacement theory” for those people who've never heard of it and want to understand what this means in order to meet this moment we are today? How do you define it?
Ibram X Kendi: Sure. First let me say I'm excited to be on your show. And so “great replacement theory” is this notion that there is this conspiracy, particularly that liberal or even progressive elites are apparently facilitating people of color to come and take away the lives, livelihoods, even jobs, or even electoral power of white people.
And it's actually mutated from there in different countries. And so, when we think about it even in a more expansive sense, it's this notion that there's this conspiracy to take the lives, livelihoods, or even power of majority groups through disadvantaged or even minority groups. So, it’s essentially, this idea that minoritized groups or disadvantaged groups are coming to take over.
And the reason why this connects to authoritarianism is because you have these authoritarian politicians who are pushing this idea on majority groups, on privileged groups, saying to them that “your lives are under attack. Your nations are being invaded, and I'm here to protect you.”
