To the editor:

On May 14, in a horrifying crime, a teenage white supremacist sought out a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo to assault — then he allegedly murdered 10 people in a grocery store. He wrote that he was motivated by the “white replacement theory” and inspired by recent white supremacist mass murders in El Paso and New Zealand. Yes, a New York state teenager has been radicalized by white supremacist hate to the point of mass murder, 10 innocent New Yorkers are dead allegedly by his hand, and entire communities are feeling threatened. This is our upstate reality, and the pain of it is staggering. No words are right today, but we must not deny the danger anymore, a danger that many of our Black friends and neighbors have always known: Hateful words can fuel hateful actions.

We have to face the fact that this dangerous language has been present in our community and speak out about it. For example, our own Congressional representative has promoted the “white replacement theory.” In Fall 2021, when Tucker Carlson promoted the “great replacement theory” explicitly, Elise Stefanik quickly launched a series of Facebook ads to her supporters that echoed these messages. The ads claimed that the goal of immigration reform is to take political power from Republicans, thus scapegoating immigrants (who are stereotyped as people of color) as thieves of Republican power. (See details in the Times Union editorial, “How Low, Ms. Stefanik?,” Sept. 17, 2021 and Newsweek report by Khaleda Rahman, May 15). If our elected representative is promoting these scapegoating lies to raise money from her supporters all over the country, that tells us how deep they are and how urgent it is to confront them.

On May 6, Stefanik continued her efforts to manipulate voters with lies and fear, writing in an email to voters: “New York, along with 12 other states, is using federal COVID funds to implement Critical Race Theory in schools … I will continue to stand up for students and parents against this dangerous, Far-Left agenda.” I believe that the real danger is not educators. The real danger are reckless lies like this, designed to convince white voters they are under attack and need people like Stefanik to defend them. (See ABC News, “Critical Race Theory in the Classroom: Understanding the Debate.”) Stefanik’s communications are just one version of these messages, which are designed to echo explicitly racist beliefs that circulate less publicly.

We see the consequences of these kinds of lies in our communities, including in the murders in Buffalo. There’s no simple solution, but our silence is failing us. Let’s speak up and make the debate visible. Let’s stand up clearly for racial justice and against dangerous, scapegoating lies.

Jennifer Mitchell

Colton