There is no RationalWiki without you. We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity. |
Fighting pseudoscience isn't free. We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with ![]() ![]() |
The Great Replacement
Some dare call it Conspiracy |
![]() |
What THEY don't want you to know! |
Sheeple wakers |
The Great Replacement (French: Le Grand Remplacement) also known as White Replacement Theory;[1]:86 it has been called "replacement theory" by Tucker Carlson in an attempt to reframe the conspiracy for his more moderate audience, is a racist, Islamophobic, anti-semitic, white nationalist, far-right genocide conspiracy theory originating in France, which asserts that the white Christian population of Europe, North America (United States and Canada), and sometimes Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa "is being systematically replaced with non-European people", specifically Muslims through mass immigration and low birth rates. All this is caused by a global élite gang of conspirators, probably based in Brussels, or, for the more racist theorists out there, the Jews. The theory is used interchangeably with the white genocide conspiracy theory.
A study done in May of 2022 showed almost a third of all adult Americans believe in some aspects of the Great Replacement.[2]
Origins[edit]
The phrase originates with a 2012 book called The Great Replacement (Le Grand Remplacement) by French writer Renaud Camus.[3]
Camus started out promoting white gay separatism in books such as Tricks: 33 Stories; according to Musab Younis:[4]
Being fucked by Arabs, Camus felt, was passé: what mattered above all was same-race, same-sex intercourse and the extinction of difference: white men who identified as gay should fuck white men, and do so in conspicuously gay spaces.
Camus based his racist theory on ideas put forward in the 1972 book The Camp of the Saints, a novel by Jean Raspail, which describes "mass immigration destroying Western civilization" (and which enjoyed a renewed burst of popularity around 2011), and the Eurabia conspiracy theory. He formed the curiously-named political party "Party of No-harm" (French: Le Parti de l’In-nocence), which pushes a mix of left- and right-wing policies to no electoral success.[5] Today, Camus is the acceptable face of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim politics, appearing "plausibly high-minded, principally aesthetic, even well-mannered"; historian Mark Lilla called him "a kind of connective tissue between the far right and the respectable right".[6]
The Great Replacement conspiracy theory as an idea however dates back earlier:[1]:82-87
- Eugenicist Madison Grant's 1916 book The Passing of the Great Race, in which Grant decried the alleged replacement of whites in America by African Americans and Polish Jews.[1]:82-83[7]
- Crank/Polymath Oswald Spengler's writings have been observed to present a early form of the Great Replacement theory. Spengler postulated that less-developed cultures, such as Africa, would inevitably take over Europe, as the latter's so-called "cultural life-force" has been weakened by the industrialized society. Spengler also accused France for having allowed Africans to poison the "blood of the Europe" due to France's "perverse miscegenation."[8][9][10]:180-186 (Vol.2)
- Eugenicist Lothrop Stoddard's
1920 book The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy claimed that the increase the populations of non-white people would end Western civilization.[11][12]
- Future President of the United States Calvin Coolidge, shortly before he became Vice President in 1921 published an article in Good Housekeeping magazine. His article argued that America had become a "dumping ground" for immigrants and arguing that America should be restricted to northern European immigrants.[1]:83[13][14]
- In 1924 under the leadership of eugenicist and House Committee chair Albert Johnson,
Congress passed harsh quota system based on national origin that was effectively racially motivated.[11]
- The Great Replacement conspiracy theory played a central role in Nazi Germany, featuring in Mein Kampf, where Hitler claimed that "Jews had brought Negroes" into the Rhineland.[1]:84-85[15]:325
- Theodore G. Bilbo's
1947 book Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongrelization. Bilbo was a racist KKK Democrat demagogue from Mississippi who was Governor and then Senator of the state.[16]
Why it's bullshit[edit]
One of the most common talking points is that the number of non-White babies born has been increasing. This requires that the listener ignore the definition of "White", relying upon an extremely racist form of special pleading known as "the one-drop rule". The child of a White man and Black woman is considered "non-White", but it would be just as easy to classify the child as "non-Black". If you have a town that's made up of 50% Irish and 50% Italians, and everyone marries randomly, a quarter of couples will be Irish-Irish and another quarter Italian-Italian, whereas half will be Irish-Italian; assuming everyone has an equal chance of giving birth, "non-Irish" people will make up 3/4ths of the next generation, yet "non-Italian" people also make up 3/4ths of the next generation. If we repeat the process, only 1/16th of the third generation will be "pure"-Italian, and of the 4th generation, just a mere 1/256th. But to any reasonable person, the town is still half Italian.
Alt-right[edit]
The slogans "You Will Not Replace Us" and the more blatantly antisemitic and racist "Jews Will Not Replace Us" used by alt-right protestors during the violent Charlottesville riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA has been associated with, and is ostensibly derived from, The Great Replacement conspiracy theory.[17]
Fuel for domestic terrorism[edit]
Throughout history, variants of the Great Replacement theory have been used a rationalization of genocide against alleged high-fertility minorities. Since 2011, it has been cited as a motivation by domestic terrorists.[1]:86
Norwegian mass murder[edit]
Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011. His manifesto cited the Great Replacement.[1]:86
Murder of Black churchgoers[edit]
Dylann Roof murdered in nine African American churchgoers in South Carolina in 2015. His manifesto cited the Great Replacement.[1]:86
Christchurch terrorist manifesto[edit]
Brenton Tarrant, the Australian-born perpetrator of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, named his manifesto after this theory.[18] Although the manifesto contained numerous references to the Great Replacement theory, the majority of the manifesto consists of a mix of unrelated white nationalist talking points and alt-right propaganda taken from the internet. The reaction to the manifesto attracted attention to other groups using comparable rhetoric, and led to Facebook banning white nationalist propaganda from their platform.[19]
El Paso terrorist manifesto[edit]
Patrick Crusius of Allen, the perpetrator of the shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, was also influenced by the theory, and mentioned in his manifesto The Inconvient[sic] Truth a supposed "Hispanic invasion of Texas" and claimed he was "simply trying to defend my country from ethnic and cultural replacement brought on by an invasion" as well as praising the aforementioned Brenton Tarrant and his manifesto. Additionally, Crusius also read Tarrant's The Great Replacement manifesto.[20]
Tree of Life Synagogue[edit]
The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, in which the perpetrator killed 11 attendees in 2018. His manifesto cited the Great Replacement.[1]:86
Tops Friendly Markets[edit]
The 2022 Buffalo shooting, in which the perpetrator killed 10 African Americans. His manifesto cited the Great Replacement.[1]:86 The shooting that happened in Buffalo, New York, was caused by Payton S. Gendron
, who wrote about the Great Replacement in his manifesto.[21]
Identitarians[edit]
The far-right white nationalist Identitarian movement in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand is a major promoter of this theory.[22]
2021 U.S. coup attempt[edit]
Fear of the Great Replacement was a significant driver of the January 6, 2021 coup attempt by Trump supporters. Arrestees were 6 times more likely to come from counties with declines in the percentage of non-Hispanic Whites in the population. Fear that Blacks and Hispanics are overtaking Whites increased the likelihood of being an insurrectionist by 3-fold in the second study. Fear that Blacks and Hispanics will have more rights than Whites increased the likelihood of being an insurrectionist by 2-fold in the third study.[23]
Outside of Europe[edit]
The Great Replacement theory is widespread outside of Europe. America is an obvious example of a country outside of the European sphere that adheres to the theory, but the theory also has a presence in other countries such as Canada,[24] Mexico,[25][26] Brazil,[27][28] Japan,[29] Iran,[30] India,[31] and Turkey.[32]
See also[edit]
- Alt-right glossary
- Tucker Carlson
- Peter Frost
- Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement (IE/AIM) — one of the main components of the Identitarian movement in the United States/North America.
- The Kalergi Plan and Eurabia — different white genocide conspiracy theories.
External links[edit]
- See the Wikipedia article on The Great Replacement conspiracy theory.
- South Park song - "Too many minorities in my waterpark".
References[edit]
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley (2024) One Signal Publishers / Atria. ISBN 9781668056912.
- ↑ https://apnorc.org/projects/immigration-attitudes-and-conspiratorial-thinkers/
- ↑ Le Grand Remplacement by Renaud Camus (2011) D. Reinharc. ISBN 2358690317.
- ↑ "Bitch Nation" by Musab Younis, London Review of Books, Vol. 41 No. 3 · 7 February 2019, pages 39-40
- ↑ "Autant j'aime Renaud Camus, autant je suis mal à l'aise avec le parti de l'In-nocence", Emmanuel Carrère, L'Express, 31 Jan 2012
- ↑ The French Origins of "You Will Not Replace Us", Thomas Chatterton Williams, New Yorker, 4 Dec 2017
- ↑ [The Passing of the Great Race or the Racial Basis of European History by Madison Grant (1916) Charles Scribner's Sons.
- ↑ Blamires, Cyprian P. (2006). World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia (2 Volumes). ABC-CLIO Inc. p. 628. ISBN 1-57607-940-6.
- ↑ International Literature Vol 112. (1970). International Union of Revolutionary Writers. Page 95.
- ↑ Spengler, Oswald (1918). Der Untergang des Abendlandes (The Decline of the West): Volume 1 (1918) and Volume 2 (1922)
- ↑ Jump up to: 11.0 11.1 The ‘great replacement’ theory rises again, ending in tragedy: Yet history shows that ethnic and racial diversity has proved to be renewal, not replacement by Glenn C. Altschuler & Stuart M. Blumin (June 2, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
- ↑ ''The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy by Lothrop Stoddard (1920) Charles Scribner's Sons.
- ↑ "Whose Country Is This? by Calvin Coolidge (1921) Good Housekeeping 72(2):13-14.
- ↑ Behold, America: The Entangled History of "America First" and "the American Dream" by Sarah Churchwell (2018) Basic Books. ISBN 1541673409.
- ↑ Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, translated by Ralph Manheim (1971) Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395083621.
- ↑ The roots of the ‘great replacement theory’ believed to fuel Buffalo suspect by Martha M. Hamilton & Aaron Wiener (May 15, 2022) The Washington Post.
- ↑ “You will not replace us”: a French philosopher explains the Charlottesville chant: American white nationalists may not realize it, but the fear of replacement is essential to the work of a controversial French writer named Renaud Camus. by Sarah Wildman (Aug 15, 2017, 9:20am EDT) Vox.
- ↑ McAuley, James (March 15, 2019). "Renaud Camus's ideas may have inspired the Christchurch mosque slayings in New Zealand". Washington Post.
- ↑ Facebook to ban white nationalism after mosque attacks by Sharon Marris (28 March 2019 08:01, UK) Sky News.
- ↑ Arango, Tim; Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas; Benner, Katie (August 3, 2019). "Minutes Before El Paso Killing, Hate-Filled Manifesto Appears Online". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ↑ The Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect allegedly posted an apparent manifesto repeatedly citing 'great replacement' theory by Ben Collins, May 14, 2022, NBC News
- ↑ Austria mulls dissolving far-right movement over Christchurch links by Philip Oltermann (27 Mar 2019 12.37 EDT) The Guardian.
- ↑ Understanding American Domestic Terrorism: Mobilization Potential and Risk Factors of a New Threat Trajectory by Robert A. Pape et al. (April 6, 2021) The Chicago Project on Security and Threats.
- ↑ Some trucker convoy organizers have history of white nationalism, racism Global News
- ↑ Migration flows and violence against migrants in Mexico Vision of Humanity
- ↑ Anti-immigrant sentiment grips Mexico City where residents fume about American interlopers Washington Times
- ↑ The Marginalization of Non-White Refugees in Brazil RioOnWatch
- ↑ How Brazil’s progressive migration bill was sabotaged Al Jazeera
- ↑ Prejudice against immigrants explained in numbers
- ↑ Saudi-backed media promotes "Great Replacement" theory to Iranians Matthew’s Notebook
- ↑ Inside Hindutva’s Great Replacement Conspiracy Global Network
- ↑ Erdoğan’s Great Replacement Theory The Dial