White supremacy and extremism, fueled by conspiracies such as Great Replacement Theory, have taken hold in the United States and Massachusetts. The impact of those theories has been demonstrated by racist attacks like the latest mass shooting of Black Buffalo residents at a grocery store, experts told Jim Braude on Greater Boston.
Boston Globe Columnist Renée Graham and GBH Senior Investigative Reporter Phillip Martin both said that people carrying out such attacks are not lone wolves — they all influence one another with a connecting thread. That thread includes conspiracy theories which claim that people of color are brought to the U.S. to replace white voters.
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"It's taken hold in the United States," said Martin, adding that extremism is also taking hold in Massachusetts with groups targeting people online and in-person by claiming that white people are in danger of losing their place in American society. He said although the groups in New England might only have 20 or 30 people, their message becomes amplified.
Graham said that while white surpremacy isn't new, it hit a turning point during Donald Trump's presidency, who pushed a message of "taking back the country."
"That gave it credence, that gave it legitimacy, and that allowed a lot of people who might have thought this in the back on their minds to suddenly say it out loud," said Graham.
She said a solution to the racist, violent attacks starts with gun reform, and also action by white people.
"At some point, white people in this country need to carry this load," she said. "It is too much to ask of Black people and brown people and Jews, who have to constantly deal with this while being targeted and burying their dead... This is not a Black problem, this is an American problem."
Watch: Buffalo mass shooting offers another example of white supremacy gone mainstream in America
