White genocide conspiracy theory

This article is about the white nationalist conspiracy theory. For the article about the Armenian term, see White Genocide.

Anti-immigrant protesters in Calais hold a banner in French reading "Diversity is a code word for white genocide", November 8, 2015

The white genocide conspiracy theory is a neo-Nazi, alt-right, conservative, white nationalist, and supremacist conspiracy theory, which contends that any one of; mass immigration, racial integration, miscegenation, low fertility rates, abortion, governmental land-confiscation from whites, organised violence or eliminationism are being promoted in either predominantly white countries, or supposedly white-founded countries, to deliberately turn them minority-white and hence cause white people to become extinct through forced assimilation or violent genocide.

The phrase "Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white", coined by high-profile white nationalist Robert Whitaker, is commonly associated with the topic of white genocide. It has appeared on billboards in the United States near Birmingham, Alabama and in Harrison, Arkansas. The conspiracy theory had already been purported in Nazi Germany by a pamphlet written for the "Research Department for the Jewish question" of Walter Frank's "Reich Institute" with the title "Are the White Nations Dying? The Future of the White and the Colored Nations in the Light of Biological Statistics".

In August 2018, US President Donald Trump was accused of endorsing the conspiracy theory in a foreign policy tweet, instructing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to investigate South African farm attacks, claiming that "South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers".

Origins

The phrase first appeared sporadically in the neo-Nazi publications White Power and WAR in the 1970s and 1980s, where it primarily referred to contraception and abortion. The conspiracy theory was developed by the neo-Nazi David Lane in his White Genocide Manifesto (c. 1995, origin of the later use of the term), where he made the claim that the government policies of many Western countries had the intent of destroying white European culture and making white people an "extinct species". Lane—a founding member of the organization The Order—criticized miscegenation, abortion, homosexuality, the legal repercussions against those who "resist genocide", and the "Zionist Occupation Government" that he said controls the United States and the other majority-white countries and which encourages "white genocide". It is rooted in "doctrines of universalism both secular and religious", according to Lane, and it may have been a factor that led to the murder of anti-Nazi Jewish talk-show commentator Alan Berg in 1984. Prior to his murder, Berg regularly taunted racists on his show.

While individual iterations of the conspiracy theory vary on who is assigned blame, Jewish influence, people who hate whites, and liberal political forces are commonly cited by white supremacists as being the main factors leading to a white genocide. This view is held by prominent figures such as David Duke, who cites Jews and "liberal political ideals" as the main causes. White nationalist Robert Whitaker, who coined the phrase "anti-racist is a code word for anti-white", uses "anti-White" to describe those whom he believes are responsible for the genocide of white people, and he has singled out Jews as a contributing force.

However, the view that Jews are responsible for a white genocide is contested by other white supremacist figures, such as Jared Taylor.

Advocates

Advocates of the conspiracy theory include:

Canada

• Faith Goldy, a Canadian right-wing writer and commentator, has linked white genocide with recent removal of Confederate statues, claiming the monuments were being replaced "because [white] people are being replaced". Her belief in the subject has resulted in criticism, including a petition to rescind her Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award, as well as contributing to her dismissal at The Rebel Media. GQ magazine have labelled Goldy as "one of Canada's most prominent propagandists" of the theory.
• Gavin McInnes, a Canadian writer, actor and comedian, has supported the conspiracy. He has stated that white women having abortions and immigration is "leading to white genocide in the West".
• Stefan Molyneux, a Canadian podcaster and YouTuber, has publicly supported the theory. He accused portrait painter Kehinde Wiley of being a "white genocide fetish artist", after he was selected to paint President Obama's presidential portrait.
• Lauren Southern, a Canadian far-right internet personality and political activist, has promoted the white genocide conspiracy theory. She has advocated for European countries to refuse refugees from Africa and Asia, saying that immigration would lead to white genocide, and has been labelled in media as a "booster" for the conspiracy at large. In 2018, Southern produced a documentary called Farmlands about post-Apartheid farm violence in South Africa. Sky News interviewed her regarding her documentary Farmlands, introduced as what Southern describes as the "white genocide of South Africa", the tagline of which was "Crisis. Oppression. Genocide?".

United Kingdom

• Katie Hopkins, an English media personality, promotes the conspiracy, saying that both immigration and multiculturalism are intended to cause white genocide. Yahoo! News, and other media, reported it was "her intention was to 'expose' the white genocide" happening to farmers in South Africa.
• Anne Marie Waters, founder and leader of the anti-Islam party For Britain in the United Kingdom, supports the white genocide conspiracy, stating that white genocide is a "part of a broad-ranging, virulent, and vicious hatred" of "white Western people", and that its leaders wanted "to extinguish Western culture". In April 2018, she fielded two candidates in local elections for her party, with a history of promoting the conspiracy theory.
• Andrew Sullivan, an English-American author, editor, and blogger, has been labelled by sections of the media as subscribing to the conspiracy theory, after he described Sarah Jeong as a racist with a "vicious hatred" of white people, and explicitly accused the New York Times editorial board-member of eliminationism (a doctrine that political opponents are a societal cancer that should be separated, censored or exterminated). In October 2017, Sullivan had also described professor George Ciccariello-Maher's statement that "All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide" as "offensive" and claimed his "ideology is grotesque".
• Paul Weston, a British far-right politician and part of the Pegida UK leadership, supports the conspiracy, stating that a white genocide is occurring in Britain, and has used the United Nations definition of genocide as proof of its occurrence.

United States

• Tucker Carlson, an American conservative political commentator for Fox News, has been described as advocating the conspiracy theory, regarding changing racial demographics in the United States. Salon magazine have claimed he shares an obsession with the concept, while The Daily Beast have reported an ADL-analysis of his use of "white genocide" rhetoric in a 2018 monologue. Outside of U.S. politics, the SPLC have accused his website The Daily Caller of promoting the theory in relation to South African farm attacks.
• Mike Cernovich, an American alt-right social media personality, writer, and conspiracy theorist, supports and promotes the conspiracy theory, claiming "diversity is a code word for white genocide". He has deleted several tweets referring to the concept.
• Ann Coulter, an American conservative social, writer and political commentator, has been described by multiple sources as an advocate of the theory, claiming that "a genocide" is occuring against South African farmers. She has declared the Boers to be the "only real refugees" in South Africa. Comparing non-white immigration into the United States with genocide,, the SPLC have identified Coulter's remarks that if the demographic changes occuring in the U.S. were being "legally imposed on any group other than white Americans, it would be called genocide". Vox have described Coulter as one of many providing a platform for "the 'white genocide' myth".
• David Duke, an American white supremacist, former Republican Louisiana State Representative and Grand Wizard of the KKK, promotes the theory and explicitly claims that Jews are "organising white genocide". Within the conspiracy, Duke had accused Anthony Bourdain of wanting a genocide of white people.
• James Edwards, an American far-right political activist, has stated that miscegenation is a part of the conspiracy, saying that "interracial sex is white genocide".
• Mike Enoch, an American white nationalist, antisemite and alt-right activist, has expressed his belief in the conspiracy. He gave a speech to reporters and protestors at the Unite the Right rally about white genocide.
• Alex Jones, an American radio show host and conspiracy theorist, has claimed that NFL players protesting the US national anthem were "kneeling to white genocide". He also contends that both Democrats and communists are plotting imminent "white genocide" attacks.
• Steve King, an American politician serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa's 4th congressional district, believes and promotes the theory. Vox has claimed that King is an adherent, and that he demonstrates the existence of the view within the United States Congress. ThinkProgress has accused King of endorsing "a slightly more genteel" version of the white genocide conspiracy.
• Jason Kessler, an American white nationalist blogger, promotes the conspiracy theory. Seeking to limit all immigration to the United States from non-European countries in response to the theory, he has used his website to criticize what he called "white genocide" and an "attack on white history".
• Michael Savage, an American radio host, author and conservative political commentator, has publicy shown his belief in the concept. He has accused US President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party itself for attempting white genocide within the United States. Savage has declared that there is a "cultural genocide being promulgated against Caucasians".
• Jack Posobiec, an American alt-right internet troll and conspiracy theorist, promotes the white genocide conspiracy theory, and has frequently tweeted in support of the concept.
• Donald Trump, an American businessman and current President of the United States, has been described as promoting the conspiracy theory after tweeting his belief that "large numbers" of white farmers were being killed in South Africa. In August 2018, New York magazine commented that Trump was attempting to "change the conversation — to one about “white genocide” in South Africa", while Esquire stated that the "President of the United States is now openly promoting an international racist conspiracy theory as the official foreign policy of the United States". According to the SPLC, Trump had "tweeted out his intention to put the full force of the U.S. State Department behind a white nationalist conspiracy theory". Causing "angry reaction" in the country, Julius Malema MP responded to the US President, declaring "there is no white genocide in South Africa". Trump had previously caused controversy around the topic as a presidential candidate in 2016, when he retweeted a negative comment towards GOP primary opponent Jeb Bush from a social media account named "WhiteGenocideTM".
• Donald Trump Jr., an American businessman and the eldest child of the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, has been accused by mainstream media of being either a believer in the conspiracy, or pretending to be an advocate for political gain, after his interview with white supremacist James Edwards during the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.

Critics

Critics of the conspiracy theory include:

• Patrick Gaspard, a Congolese-American politician and former United States Ambassador to South Africa, has criticized Donald Trump's promotion of the conspiracy theory, labelling the president's actions as "dangerous and poisoned" and the concept of "white genocide" as a "white-supremacist meme from the darkest place".
• David Mabuza, a South African politican and Deputy President of South Africa, has spoken in opposition to the conspiracy theory, calling it "far from the truth". In an apparent rebuke of President Trump's promotion of the concept, he stated that "we would like to discourage those who are using this sensitive and emotive issue of land to divide us as South Africans by distorting our land reform measures to the international community and spreading falsehoods that our ‘white farmers’ are facing the onslaught from their own government".
• Julius Malema, a South African Member of Parliament and leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party, has spoken in oppositon of the conspiracy theory and was critical of comments made by Donald Trump, after he had instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to investigate South African farm attacks. Declaring that it was "absolute rubbish to say there's white genocide", Malema has stated that "South Africans would not be intimidated by Mr Trump" and that the US President's intervention into their domestic issues "only made them more determined... to expropriate our land without compensation".

South Africa

Far-right and alt-right figures, such as singer Steve Hofmeyr, have claimed that a "white genocide" is taking place in South Africa. The manifesto of far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence devotes an entire section to an alleged "genocide" against Afrikaners. It also contains several other references to alleged persecution of whites in South Africa and the attacks on white farmers. Mike Cernovich, an American alt-right commentator, has previously stated that "white genocide in South Africa is real." The survivalist group the Suidlanders has claimed credit for publicizing the issue internationally.

Africa Check, a fact-checking organisation, has rejected these claims as false: "In fact, whites are less likely to be murdered than any other race group." Africa Check reported that while whites account for nearly 9% of the South African population they represent just 1.8% of murder victims. Lizette Lancaster from the Institute for Security Studies has said that "Whites are far less likely to be murdered than their black or coloured counterparts."

Discourse

Anders Behring Breivik's entitled manifesto makes frequent mention of an alleged ongoing genocide against white Europeans. In 2016, Donald Trump garnered controversy after retweeting Twitter user @WhiteGenocideTM, and @EustaceFash, whose Twitter header image at the time also included the term "white genocide". A 2016 analysis of his Twitter feed during the Republican presidential primaries showed that 62% of those that he chose to retweet in an average week followed multiple accounts which discussed the conspiracy theory, and 21% followed prominent white nationalists online. Andrew Anglin of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer said that "it isn't statistically possible that two ['white genocide' tweets] back to back could be a random occurrence. It could only be deliberate [...] Today in America the air is cold and it tastes like victory."

Discussion threads on the white nationalist Internet forum Stormfront often center around the theme of white people being subjected to genocidal policies by their governments. The concept has also been popularized by the alt-right movement in the United States. The 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia referenced the conspiracy theory as tiki torch-wielding protestors yelled "You will not replace us!" and "Jews will not replace us!".

The notion of racial purity, homogeneity, or "racial hygiene" is an underlying theme of the white genocide discourse and it has been used by people with neo-Nazi and white supremacist backgrounds.

See also

• Angry white male
• Criticism of multiculturalism
• Eurabia
• The Camp of the Saints, a dystopian novel that describes a similar concept.
• Klu Klux Klan
• White supremacy