Weekly Round-Up

Who to read on the Buffalo shooting

A racist mass shooting in New York left 10 people dead this weekend; of the 13 people shot, 11 were Black. Victims included a father buying a cake for his son’s 3rd birthday, a beloved teacher, and a grandmother of six. White supremacist attacks are on the rise, and America’s gun violence crisis only makes our country’s racism that much more deadly.

It’s hard to know what to say, so here are some people whose work I’ve found valuable in thinking through the horror of it all:

Michele Norris writes at The Washington Post that “White Americans must speak out against white supremacy,” because “minorities cannot alone dismantle an exploitive brand of fearmongering that is built around their very existence.”

Ben Collins writes about the shooter’s manifesto (Ben & Brandy Zadrozny are great people to follow for reporting on the dregs of the internet, misinformation and more)

This is from 2019, but Adam Serwer’s piece, “White Nationalism’s Deep American Roots,” is incredibly and depressingly relevant. Also in The Atlantic, Kathleen Belew’s “White Power, White Violence.” 

Marianna Sotomayor on New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s history of pushing the ‘great replacement theory’ cited in the shooter’s manifesto. 

Parker Malloy has a great run-down on the ‘great replacement theory’ and conservative tactics to distance themselves and their rhetoric from the shooting. 

And this thread on how the ‘great replacement theory’ is hardly new:

Osita Nwanevu @OsitaNwanevu

Taking a trip down memory lane on immigration, the GOP, and Saint Romney this afternoon. From 2007. newyorker.com/magazine/2007/…

Speaking of Twitter, you should be following these people if you’re not already: 

Kenyon Farrow @kenyonfarrow

“Hate” is the most useless framing that minimizes what is clearly far-right white supremacist violence organized and facilitated by elected officials, courts, police and media, carried out by ppl organized or inspired by armed militia orgs. “Hate” obscures the labor involved.

A Shady Dame From Seville @SorayaMcDonald

Please stop saying "culture war" because you're too much of a punk to say "bigotry"

Dr. Thrasher @thrasherxy

Noting that in AP copy, 18-yeear-old Michael Brown was an “18-year old Black man,” while 18-year-old Payton Gendron is a “white teenager.”

Wesley @WesleyLowery

for what it's worth: the shooter self described as "racist" in the manifesto so there is extra no reason for "racially charged" or other euphemisms. he openly advocated racial segregation and an American white ethnostate -- he's a white supremacist; definitionally racist

Karen Attiah @KarenAttiah

For anyone who needs a dose of hope: W.E.B. Du Bois’s last words to the world, inscribed outside his grave in Accra, Ghana