It's Not Just Great Replacement Theory That Influenced the Buffalo Shooter

The bunk theory of eugenics has come up once again as a talking point in the wake of the devastating May 14 Buffalo shooting, where a white gunman drove 200 miles to target people at a supermarket in a majority Black town, shooting 13 and killing 10.

The scene of violence took on a very modern context. The white supremacist announced his plans on messaging app Discord. He livestreamed his attack on Twitch. His since-removed manifesto was full of memes often used by the alt-right.

But his diatribe was swimming in old, racist, antisemitic ideas given new context. Many media outlets have latched onto the shooter espousing Great Replacement Theory, the racist and eugenicist belief that immigrants and “other” out groups will reproduce enough that their progeny will exceed the current population and eventually take over. Some prominent figures such as Fox News’ premiere baby-face Tucker Carlson have become a Greek fountain of replacement theory, anti-immigrant hate streaming out his many ends.

But despite how much replacement theory has come up in the news, it misses the roster...