The Boston Globe - 06.08.2019

A8 Editorial The Boston Globe TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019

DAN WASSERMAN

H

ypocrisy is an ugly

thing. Hypocrisy

that plays out even

as families and

communities

mourn the deaths of 31 human

beingskilled in back-to-backmass

shootings is simplyshameful.

And whenit’s the nation’s com-

mander in chief who plays hypo-

critein chief, well, it’s rightfor a

grieving nation to be skeptical of

his motives and his promises —

and put the burden of proofon

him to show he meansanything

he says.

“The shooter in El Paso posted

a manifesto online, consumed

by racist hate,” President Trump

said in televised remarks from the

WhiteHouse Monday. “In one

voice,our nation must condemn

racism, bigotry, and white

supremacy.

“These sinister ideologies must

be defeated. Hate has no placein

America. Hatred warpsthe mind,

ravages the heart, and devours

the soul,” he added.

Those are fine sentiments. But

in his words— and even more im-

portantly, in his deeds — Trump

has yet to live up to them.

Trump’s actual recordon law

enforcementis thin.His sudden

epiphany aboutthe dangers of do-

mestic terrorism notwithstand-

ing, the nation is reapingthe re-

sult of the president’s neglect,

starvation, and disparagementof

thoseinstitutionsand programs

that might actuallymake an im-

pact on countering the dangers

withinour borders.

The Departmentof Homeland

Security, whichoughtto be a lead

agency in disrupting domestic ter-

rorism, has been operating with

an “acting” secretary since April

(and its fourth leaderin under

threeyears).A unit aimed at

countering violent extremism,in-

cludingdomestic terrorism, with

localgrants was revampedand re-

branded,and somegrants were

cancelled outright. The futureof

the grant program, whichended

in July, remains uncertain.

“We have asked the FBI to

identify all further resources they

needto investigate and disrupt

hate crimes and domestic terror-

ism,” Trumpsaid Monday.

Yes, that would be the same

FBI Trumphas rarely missed an

opportunity to criticize, to accuse

of “spying” on him,and to blame

for so many of his accumulated

political woes.Suddenly those

front-line troopscan have “what-

ever they need” to fight domestic

terror.

Of course,thereis no federal

charge of “domestic terrorism,”

which has long hamstrunglaw

enforcement’s ability to target

suchcrimes.

Trump’s solution? Directing

the Justice Departmentto pro-

poselegislation “ensuring that

thosewho commit hate crimes

and massmurders face the death

penalty and that this capital pun-

ishment be delivered quickly, de-

cisively, and withoutyearsof

needlessdelay.” Thus SaudiAra-

bia becomesour new role model

for criminal justice.

Trumpcalled for a “red flag”

gun law to ensurethat thosewho

“pose a grave risk to public safety

donothaveaccesstofirearms.”

Of course,he had already

promised meaningful gun reform

at a White House meeting just af-

ter the February 2018Parkland,

Fla., school massacre. But a year

later, when two background-check

bills passed the now Democratic

House, Trump threateneda veto.

The measures are still stalled.

While his early Monday morn-

ing tweets focused on his favorite

target, the mainstream media

(“Fake News has contributed

greatly to the anger and rage that

has built up over many years”),

his preparedremarkszeroedin on

“the perils of the internet and so-

cial media” which he insisted

“will not be ignored.”

Yes, Trumpis a bornmaster of

deflection. Nothing is his fault.

It’s all aboutviolent videogames

and the WildWest of socialmedia

and the Internet and “fake news”

and people withmental illness.

He’ll never own up to his own his-

tory of inflammatory racist re-

marks,or the role it has played

mainstreaminghate speech.

If Trumpis to be a credible

leader, he needsto change his

own tone, thenback up the vaga-

ries in Monday’s speech withen-

hanced federal resources against

white supremacist violenceand

domestic terrorism. It’s not

enough to talk like he’s suddenly

enlightened; he needsto actually

govern that way.

Until then,whenthe tele-

prompter is turnedoff, the good

people of this nation are right

backwhere we started — fighting

hatred and gun violencenot with

the man in the Oval Office but in

spite of him.

Donald Trump, woke?

We’ll believe it when

deeds back up words

Opinion

BOSTONGLOBE.COM/OPINION

Editorial

A

cross the United

States, Americans

went to bed

Saturday night

grieving a mass

shooting

perpetrated

by a whitesupremacist that killed

20 people in El Paso, Texas, and

woke up to the news of another

massshootingin Dayton,Ohio,

which left 10 dead.Althoughno

ideological motive for the Dayton

shooting is currently known, we

do knowit was not random; the

shooter showedup in tactical

armor, carrying extra magazines,

prepared to inflict mass trauma.

Whether the Dayton shooting

has clear ideological motivations

or not, one thingis clear: It will

help boost global white

supremacy anyway.

Repeated mass shootings and

far-right terrorist attacks are

textbook cases of what white

supremacists call “acceleration” —

an imperative to sow chaos and

societal disruption in order to

bring about a race war,

apocalyptic end times,and an

eventualsocietal resurrection and

rebirth. Within hoursof the

shootings, extremists were

celebrating on social media with

phrases like “it’s happening!” and

“the fire rises!”

They are referring to the

principleof acceleration. While

most people knowwhite

supremacist extremism is based

on dehumanizing and

exclusionary ideologies —

including racist, anti-Semitic,

Islamophobic, and anti-

immigrant beliefs — fewer

understand two other key aspects:

the idea of existentialthreat from

demographic change, and the

doctrine of acceleration. Both

ideasare key to understanding

why so many attacks are

happening.

The manifestos of the mass

shooters in Oslo and Christchurch

wererife with dystopian fantasies

aboutdemographic replacement

and white genocide. Both texts

referencedconspiracy theories

related to the idea of a “Great

Replacement” — which argues

thereis an intentional, global plan

orchestrated by national and

global elites to replace white,

Christian, or European

populations with nonwhite,

immigrant or non-Christian ones.

This conspiracy inspired the

Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue

shooter, as well as — according to

initial reports — the El Paso

shooter.

The Great Replacement is not

a new concept. Decades ago, the

American neo-Nazi David Lane

introduced the idea of “white

genocide,” arguing that white

populations weredying out

demographically. Lane coined the

motto “14 Words” — “We must

secure the existenceof our people

and a future for white children,”

whichbecame a global mantra for

white supremacists and is

essentiallya call to defend whites

against a cominggenocide.

Together with the “Great

Replacement,” arguments about

whitegenocide have helped

inspire a sense of shared mission

amongthe global far right, who

see themselves as facing a shared

demographic threat.

What’s different now is that we

are closer to the demographic

changes that underpin

replacement and genocide

conspiracy theories. It is well-

documented that whites will be

the ethnic minority in the United

States in a coupleof decades.But

we also have national political

leaders regularly framing that

demographic reality as a threat

and a problem, which reinforces

and legitimizes white

supremacists’ fearsand sense of

urgency.

Conspiracies like the Great

Replacement and mottos like “

Words” are used to inspire anger,

resentment, and hate, coupled

with fear of imminent and

existential danger and a sense of

Gun reform

alone won’t

address white

supremacist

extremism

ByCynthiaMiller-Idriss

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Whetherornotthe

Daytonshootinghas

ideologicalmotivations,it

willhelpboost global

whitesupremacy anyway.

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/GETTYIMAGES

PresidentTrumpat a “Make AmericaGreat Again” rally in Greenville,

N.C., July 17.