Using anti-CRT Laws Against "Replacement Theory"

In their efforts to make discussing racism & discrimination illegal through anti-Critical Race Theory (or “CRT”) legislation, white supremacists may have opened the door to defeat white supremacy

Dr. G.S. Potter | Senior Editor

MAGA has almost perfected the art of using our own struggles against us. They shouted “My body, my choice!” as they refused to wear masks during the height of the pandemic.  They’ve cried “All Lives Matter!” as they defended Derek Chauvin’s lynching of George Floyd.  They’ve screamed “Reverse racism!” as they’ve passed anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-Brown and anti-Asian & Pacific Islander (or anti-BIPOC) legislation in schools across the country.

It’s time we gave them a taste of their own horse dewormer and started weaponizing their white power bullsh*t against them.

The mass shooting that happened in Buffalo last week was not a “hate crime.” It was an act of white supremacist domestic terrorism.  It was representative of the increasingly organized and violent white power networks that have become mainstreamed through the Conservative Confederate Right, its insurrectionist politicians, and their media disinformation machines. And it highlighted the influence that ideas like the “replacement theory” has on both the Republiklan…er, the Republican Party and its followers.

The bad news is, this theory has helped bring together networks of different white supremacist terror organizations across the globe under one strategic vision. These groups have organized to take down Democracies across the globe.  And they are dangerously close to overthrowing the government here in the United States. The good news: they are actually a short-sighted and stupid group of white man-babies and Karens who often overextend their reach without regard for the consequences. 

In their efforts to make discussing racism and discrimination illegal through anti-Critical Race Theory (or “CRT”) legislation, white racist policymakers may have opened the door for Democrats to eradicate white supremacy by using these ant-CRT laws as weapons against Replacement Theory and any white supremacist notions that it serves as an umbrella for.  The Democrats also have an opportunity to once and for all close the loopholes in the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act which allow white supremacy to proliferate today. 

We just need some decent lawyers.

Weaponize Anti-CRT Legislation

White pride has its blind spots.  Let’s start using those blind spots against them.

Take for example: the far right’s anti-CRT campaigns.  Designed to eliminate any discussion or acknowledgement of racism and discrimination in the education system (and ultimately in the courts), this model can now be used to eliminate Replacement Theory.  Take, for example, the text of Florida’s anti-CRT laws.  It reads:

760.10 Unlawful Employment Practices …

Members of one race, color, sex, or national origin cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race, color, sex, or national origin …. An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.

We could also look at states that have outlawed certain “divisive concepts.”  In Alabama, for example, a divisive concept is defined as:

Any of the following concepts: That one race, sex, or religion is inherently superior to another race, .sex, or religion…That an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously …. That an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely on the basis of his or her race….That members of one race should attempt to treat others differently solely on the basis of race.   That an individual's moral character is determined solely on the basis of his or her race, sex, or religion.

And in Georgia:

As used in this Code section, the term: 'Divisive concepts' means any of the following concepts, including views espousing 26 such concepts: One race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another race or ethnicity;….An individual, solely because of his or her race, skin color, or ethnicity, is inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously; An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race, skin color, or ethnicity;  An individual's moral character is inherently determined by his or her race, skin color, or ethnicity;  An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race, skin color, or ethnicity… Any form of race or ethnic scapegoating or race or ethnic stereotyping…. 'Race or ethnic scapegoating' means assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race or ethnicity or to an individual of a particular race or ethnicity because of his or her race or ethnicity.

These laws make the same strategic mistake that the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act makes: They don’t clearly identify the target criminals.  These laws don’t explicitly say that Black and Indigenous and Latinos can’t make White people feel uncomfortable. They just say “race” and “skin color.”  And that flaw should absolutely be exploited and used against them.

It seems like under the banner of “replacement theory,” White folks are doing their damndest to make Black, Indigenous, and immigrant folks feel pretty uncomfortable for the color of their skin and their ethnicities. White Republicans are definitely using replacement theory to “scapegoat” migrants for their inability to win elections.  And White folks are without a doubt using replacement theory to assert the notion that they are “inherently superior.”

All of these acts violate anti-CRT legislation.  And, so, in Republican controlled states that have passed these laws, we need Democrats to start flooding the courts with cases designed to use these laws in a bid to dismantle Replacement Theory.  They should also use the term “replacement theory” as an umbrella term for every single tenant of white privilege and white power. 

In Blue states, though, a very unique opportunity has arisen.

Making White Supremacy Illegal

As already stated, there is a fundamental flaw in the Fourteenth Amendment and every piece of race based anti-discrimination legislation that has been written as an extension of it.  These laws are written without the word “white.”  They make race-based discrimination illegal, but completely eliminate the fact that race-based discrimination in the United States is rooted in white supremacy. 

This flaw is what the GOP is exploiting to write laws that use the concept of “reverse racism” to target Indigenous, Black, and Brown people for even speaking about white privilege, let alone confronting white supremacy. Democrats in Blue states can and should fix this flaw by rewriting anti-CRT bills and weaponizing them specifically against white supremacy.  Not just raced based discrimination.  White supremacy. 

For example, let’s go back to Florida’s anti-CRT law.  Where it reads …

“An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.”

Democrats should write and pass legislation that says …

“An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress BECAUSE THEY AREN’T WHITE.”

Divisive concepts could legally be defined as:

“…views espousing such concepts: WHITE PEOPLE are inherently superior to any other race or ethnicity;…. An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because THEY AREN’T WHITE;  An individual's moral character is inherently determined by his or her WHITENESS;  An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because THEY AREN’T WHITE… Any form of race or ethnic scapegoating or race or ethnic stereotyping…. 'Race or ethnic scapegoating' means assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race or ethnicity or to an individual of a particular race or ethnicity because THEY AREN’T WHITE.”

In this way, we cannot only fight race-based discrimination, but we can finally have the legal tools we need to combat white supremacy and root it out.  At worst, we could put the GOP in the position of defending their opposition to rooting out replacement theory.  At best, we could finally begin the process of legally dismantling white supremacy in the United States.  We definitely need to … before it dismantles us.