I’m Mr. Beat here I’m white. Seriously. My skin is white. Well
technically, it’s more like peach, but yeah, I belong to a human group often tracing ancestry
back to Europe that has light-colored skin. I probably didn’t have to tell you that just now
because you, ya know…SEE ME. Unless you’re blind. Anyway, I bring this up because you may come
across some xenophobic messaging when you’re doing your thing on the ol’ internet.
You all remember what xenophobia is, right? (Gangs of New York clip) It’s
the fear of people from other countries. Now, even though this messaging is
xenophobic, it’s sneaky. In fact, it’s terribly good at manipulating
us…despite being full of crap, and despite it probably going against
everything you value and believe. I even fell for it! And I’m supposed to be smart! By the way, I’m not that smart. I just
pretend to be that way on YouTube. But anyway… A few years ago I noticed a
bunch of folks who identify as “white” started bringing up something called
The Great Replacement. Put simply, the Great Replacement Theory says that too much immigration
of “non-white” folks to countries that are mostly made up of “white” folks is bad. Not only that,
those who promote the Great Replacement Theory argue that welcoming immigration policies for
non-whites are part of a plot meant to either weaken or replace the political power and culture
of white people living in Western countries. When I say Western countries, I’m referring
not only to European countries, but also the Americas, Australia, and New
Zealand. By the way, you might check my Western values video when you get a chance. Simply put, the “Great Replacement” is the
alleged replacement of whites by non-whites. It often overlaps with a larger theory
called the white genocide conspiracy theory, which revolves around the beliefs that
powerful people are trying to prevent “whites” from having kids. Often, the conspiracy
is blamed on…you guessed it…Jewish people. This theory is manipulative because it equates
normal patterns of immigration with murder. It’s trying to put a big “EQUALS” sign between the
new Salvadoran or Syrian who lives down the street and a mental image of a concentration camp.
Now, obviously, if they literally did that, you and I wouldn’t fall for the messaging.
So the messengers have to be more subtle, and they’ve recently gotten
pretty good at manipulating us. Here’s the thing, though. Not only are those
who preach about The Great Replacement Theory manipulating us, the whole theory,
as it turns out, is bull crap. It’s uh, like, literally not
backed by any evidence at all. There is no secret plot to get rid of white
folks. But let’s say that there was. Well, they must be doing a poor job, eh, since there are more white folks in the world now than ever
before. You might be thinking, “well duh, Mr. Beat, but whites represent a smaller
percentage of the PROPORTION of the world.” Well, who counts as white isn’t based on
genetics or even demographics. It’s based on politics. In the United States, for example, Irish
Americans, Italian Americans, and Polish Americans weren’t considered “white” until the early 1900s.
Greek Americans weren’t “white” until just a few decades ago. Some Arab Americans used to be
considered “white” but by the end of the 1900s were no longer considered “white.” Even
though race isn’t a biological reality, it has still been a way for people in
power to divide us up over the years. Not only that, immigration is simply currently
not high enough, nor will it likely ever be, to make it so that the skin color, values, or
culture, will completely change in one country. Sure, there will be demographic changes and there
already has been, but there is no evidence that these recent demographic changes have dramatically
changed the dominant culture and values of any one country. We often just see cultural assimilation.
Oh, cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority culture gets absorbed
into the dominant culture of a society. Not that that matters, as these immigrants already
share American values. That’s why they’re coming here. And the different cultures they bring are
almost always beneficial to American society. Also, most immigrants, and especially their
children, assimilate peacefully into the existing culture, which, by the way, is constantly
changing anyway and has always been multicultural. This is no surprise to me, as I’ve had MANY
students who were the kids of immigrants, and if I didn’t know they were the
kids of immigrants, I would assume they had been in the country
for several generations. So then it just comes down to skin color,
and if you’re really concerned that skin colors of all humans in your society might
change, have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? Skin pigmentation is highly correlated with
distance from the equator. That's right -- the random lottery of how far you are from this line
[animation] determines what color you get to be. The primary pigment in human skin is melanin,
which is used to protect us from the sun -- just because your friend Jessica doesn't get sunburnt
as often as you, doesn't make her any less human. More than that, this distribution of colors has
changed a lot over human history, and Europeans from even just 8,000 years ago looked dramatically
different than they do today. Keep in mind that for the vast majority of human history, humans
with lighter skin pigmentation HAVE NOT EXISTED. So who came up with the Great Replacement Theory? Well, apparently this dude came up with the
modern concept of the Great Replacement Theory: Renaud Camus, a French writer who at least
popularized the term with a couple books, the first of which came out in 2010.
Camus argued that white Europeans were being disproportionately replaced by
immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, which could lead to the “extinction” of
whites. Camus particularly was afraid of Muslim immigration, arguing they often
had a much higher birth rate than whites. Even though around 40% of Muslims identify
as, ya know, white, but I digress… It’s not surprising that white supremacists were
attracted to Camus’ Great Replacement Theory, but incredibly it became fairly mainstream by the
time I first encountered it in this 2017 video by…oh…what was her name…Northern….Warren
Northern? Yeah I think that was it. Well, the video has since been taken down,
but still, back in 2017 it did very well, and just Warren casually bringing
up the theory like it ain’t no thang was surprising. It was proof that Camus had given
white supremacists a powerful argument to use, even if that argument was false. Since then,
his followers have described immigration as an invasion, and they generally promote the idea
that “non-white” immigrants (whatever that means) have dramatically different values than
whites and are trying to erase white culture. Isn’t just another version of
xenophobia? I mean, yeah basically. Yeah, before Camus popularized his Great
Replacement Theory, going back more than 100 years before that in France there was
a nationalist, anti-non-white immigrant movement brewing there. In fact, in most of the
Western world going back to the 1800s there have been similar movements, especially due to the
increase of immigrants to the Western world from African and Asian countries. Because
of this xenophobia, many people in Western countries called for nativism, or the policy of
protecting native-born citizens over immigrants. Xenophobia hasn’t always been about skin color.
In the United States, for example, many nativists hated Irish, Catholic, and Jewish immigration
to the country. This is what led to the rise of groups like the Ku Klux Klan. (turns and see
picture and acts afraid) Oh goodness gracious. But the Great Replacement Theory is different
in that it has found widespread appeal online. Media-savvy white supremacists have been
successful making it appealing to people who are, um, definitely NOT white supremacists. This
might be because now they say “great replacement” instead of WHITE GENOCIDE. Even a member of
Congress, Steve King of Iowa, endorsed the theory. The scariest thing about this being so mainstream
is that it has led to violence. A lot of it. In 2011, this guy from Norway wrote a 1,500
page manifesto explaining his fear of white ethnic replacement by migrants from the
Middle East and North Africa. He then killed 77 in a terrorist attack. In 2018, this
guy from Pennsylvania posted online that Jews were responsible for the Great Replacement
and they needed to be killed. He then went on to kill 11 people in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Some
of those were Holocaust survivors. The next year, this guy from Texas also wrote a manifesto that
said he was going to defend his country from a “cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an
invasion” of Hispanics. He then went on to kill 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso. And
then of course, the Buffalo shooting, which happened while we made this video, also was
inspired by the Great Replacement Theory. Now, obviously not everyone who falls for
these lies will commit a mass murder. But anyone, including me and you, can fall for
Great Replacement Theory messaging since those who make it use manipulative tactics to make false
claims sound more plausible. And if we’re not careful and critical, we could be manipulated and
heck, we could even be radicalized by this stuff. For the rest of this video, we’re going
to look at how people fall for the Great Replacement Theory and look at how
you can avoid falling for it, too. Those who tend to promote the Great Replacement
Theory often use the same talking points. They are all bull crap but persist anyway.
Talking point #1 Biology is destiny
It’s manipulative because when we hear “biology” we think “oh, it’s science,
so it has to be legit, right?” This one says that culture is genetically
determined and that genetic features pre-determine cultural traits. For example, they
might say that all of the problems in the African American community and in all of Africa are rooted
in inferior genetics or culture. In other words, they say that black people inherently
are less intelligent or more likely to be violent. It’s bullcrap. It’s been disproven
by decades of scholarly research. For example, many outcomes from measures of intelligence to
violence are driven by socioeconomic status and income inequality. There is absolutely no evidence
that biology is the driving factor. For example, African Americans perform similarly to
other Americans when given access to the same opportunities.
Talking point #2 We are brave to speak the truth
and the normies are cowards It’s manipulative because it’s fun to be in a
secret club and have access to secret information. Basically, this one says that people with
racist beliefs are actually countercultural truth tellers, they’re not sheep who
conform! Yeah if conforming means not being racist, I think we ought to conform
then. And for people who don’t conform, they sure use the same talking points a lot.
Talking point #3 Diversity is Conflict
It’s manipulative because the vast majority of us fear conflict.
And this one says that diversity automatically causes conflict. It often relies on cherry
picking evidence in studies to back up its claim. It’s bullcrap. There is plenty of research that
actually shows that diversity enriches societies, even in the ways the haters claim to care about.
For example, diverse groups of problem solvers often outperform groups of high performers on
really tough problems, and that makes sense, because tough problems need new
perspectives. It's how we got automatic elevator doors (invented by African American
Alexander Miles), basketball (invented by Canadian immigrant James Naismith), and the iPhone
(Steve Jobs' father was Syrian). That's right, that thing you're watching this video on
right now, wouldn't exist without diversity. Talking point #4
Whites are being exploited It’s manipulative because people naturally
don’t want to be taken advantage of. This one says whites are victims of diversity
and says that whites are being taken advantage of by non-whites and “race traitors,” or
whites that don’t have these views. They argue that it’s natural for humans to act in the
interest of their own “race,” even at the expense of others outside of their group. It’s bullcrap.
Remember that powerful people created the idea of race to divide us up and justify their place
at the top of hierarchies. Also, how exactly are whites being exploited? This is manipulative
because it points to a vague threat to make you feel scared, yet doesn’t provide good evidence
of specific exploitation of Whites. And remember, humans cooperating and working together is
what built, ya know, all of human history. Talking point #5
Things used to be so much better It’s manipulative because we generally
all love nostalgia, or an emotional connection to a period in the past.
This one tries to inspire nostalgia for an imaginary past when things were better and
tradition was respected. In particular, this talking point revolves around the myth
that “racial purity” used to be a thing, and that racial groups used to live separately and
because of that things were better. It’s bullcrap. All modern humans originated from Africa.
Different groups of humans have ALWAYS interacted, and new ethnic groups have formed
and evolved throughout human history. Talking point #6
The Jews are to blame Yeah, do I really have to explain
this one? I made a whole video on the history of antisemitism if you
also want to check that one out. There are also what I call Great
Replacement Theory red flags. Those who tend to promote the Great Replacement
Theory also use shocking images to dehumanize non-whites. They bring up I.Q. a lot. They bring
up Marx, as in Karl Marx, and they bring up Cultural Marxism a lot. They bring up open
borders a lot. They often refer to migration as an invasion. They tend to talk trash about
diversity and multiculturalism. They tend to use certain rhetorical strategies to make
radical views seem not so radical at all. Probably the most common rhetorical strategy is something called limited framing. Limited
framing is usually applied in videos in which the host on screen will put boundaries on the
discussion to make someone with crazy views seem more reasonable. Basically, they leave out
the more controversial stuff and focus on the less controversial stuff they are saying. Like
that Warren Northern video I mentioned earlier. And to deflect a bit and to convince you that
their opinions are not so crazy after all, they’ll say “people are saying.” If you get angry
at their opinions, they might say “u mad bro?” to attempt to make it seem like you’re
overreacting or weak. They present their information as if they are giving the
uncomfortable truth that is a threat to the elites or “the establishment'' or the “new world
order” or the “globalists” or even just “They.” They’ll say “you have been lied to” or title
their videos something along the lines of “The TRUTH about immigration” or “The REAL
HISTORY of immigration.” To defend themselves, they’ll often say “I’m just asking questions”
or attack you for not being open minded enough. Overall, they rely heavily on Logical Fallacies.
Here’s a video I made about Logical Fallacies by the way. So what is that now, three videos to
watch after this? That’s a lot of homework. And finally, Great Replacement Theory
promoters often use memes. Seriously. In fact, memes are a BIG reason why the Great
Replacement Theory has spread in recent years. So let’s look at some memes and see if you can
spot these Great Replacement Theory red flags. Uh, yeah, first of all this is literally a limited
frame. The person who put this together wanted you to believe that this photo was of men from
Afghanistan fleeing the country to the United States after it fell to the Taliban in the summer
of 2021. However, and I had to do A LOT of digging to find this out, this photo is actually a group
of immigrants returning to Afghanistan from Turkey in 2018. What helped me researching it is
doing a reverse image search of the photo, and I suggest you do the same whenever
you come across ANY photo that gets you fired up. So the first red flag is the picture.
Next, of course there’s the red flag of calling accepting refugees into a country “an invasion.”
Two red flags right off the bat with this one. One again is that word “invading” and
second is the shocking image to dehumanize. This also hits at talking point #3: Diversity
is Conflict This picture was circulated claiming to be a picture of refugees fighting with
police in Germany in 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis -- it was used to manipulate
people into being afraid of refugees. Well, the picture was actually taken in 2012, and
had nothing to do with the refugee crisis. There’s the IQ red flag and the
picture of French black people, although I couldn’t find where this picture
originated so who knows where they are from. And they're not even really trying that hard
anymore, they're just showing a picture of Black people next to unsubstantiated text. Folks
can't even stand peacefully without these manipulators looking for a way to weaponize
their image. Hey, I can do that, too, see? I could write literally anything.
It doesn't make it true. And while that link at the bottom goes to
a real study, it has nothing to do with rising immigration in France. But how many people
would actually click on it to look at that study? Probably not many, ok. This also hits
at Talking point #1: Biology is destiny.
This fits the formula of giving the uncomfortable truth that
is a threat to the elites or in this case “They?” Who are they, by the way?I’ve always
wanted to know who “they” were.Anyway, this also hits Talking point #1: Biology
is destiny talking about “Third Worlders.” and Talking point #4 Whites are being exploited.
Oof, this one is especially horrendous. Talking point #4 Whites are being exploited
Talking point #6 The Jews are to blame
And a bunch of stuff about IQ and Marx. And there’s the giving of the uncomfortable
truth that is a threat to the elites. So here is a picture of the mayor of the London
Borough of Camden. She is the first black mayor of Camden, and no, is not a “supremacist” of
any kind. What I particularly found fascinating about this one is that the meme implies she
needs to be deported “back home.” Well…um…I guess deport her to Camden then since
she’s lived there her whole life?
There are many, many more examples I found online, but at this point I’m getting worn
out by the fear and hate, so let’s wrap this up. The bottom line is, the Great Replacement Theory
is still a big movement because its proponents have done well to play on the natural fears
people have of economic and social instability and just change in general. In case you haven’t
noticed, things haven’t been all peachy for the majority of us lately - the world has plenty
of problems. Often, it’s easier for us to just place blame on certain groups, and groups
that are less like us are easy targets. So what can YOU do in response to all this
Great Replacement Theory manipulation? Probe the Point: Does the content use
one of these common talking points that are not backed by evidence?
Fish for Flags: Are there any red flags present, like regular mentions of IQ, use
of words like “invasion” and shocking images? Resist the Rhetoric: Is there use of a
rhetorical strategy, like limited framing, reference to a mysterious elitist majority
“they,” or use of logical fallacies? Mind the Meme: Remember that memes
are easy to share but difficult to fact check. Make sure to reverse image
search to understand a picture’s true context, and do your own research before
you share a meme yourself. These are some small steps you can take to make
sure that you don’t fall for this messaging, and in general make society a safer
and more peaceful place for all of us. Speaking of all of us, we can’t be
replaced because humans reproduce, uh…we just make more humans. Let’s end this video with
a thought experiment. Imagine if you met someone from a foreign country who looked a lot different
than you.They had a different religion than you. They liked different foods and music
than you. Heck, they didn’t even speak your language. But you fell in love with them
anyway. And you both got married and had kids and lived happily ever after. Wait, about your
future kids. You’d love them, too, wouldn’t you. “They” can’t replace us because “they” are us.
Don’t be fooled. Human differences are actually really small, so we don’t have to fear each
other. Instead, let’s just get to know each other.
