Great Replacement theory is about as weird and paranoid as it could possibly be.

It's this fear that marginalized groups are moving in to steal all the benefits previously reserved for privileged

groups. So in hopes of hanging on to their own superior status, these privileged groups seek

the protection of authoritarian leaders who, of course, are not remotely in the business of looking

out for their constituents. From KERA in Dallas, this is think. I'm Chris Boyd. In this country, the lines are often drawn between white and native-born Americans and black and brown Americans and immigrants from countries deemed undesirable. But the kind of bias that ushers in authoritarian leadership isn't limited to race and national origin. In other parts of the world, the targets are

religious or ethnic minorities or queer folks or even feminist women. And the resulting push for

authoritarian rule turns out not only to be devastating for those outgroups, it leaves pretty

much everybody except the rulers with fewer rights and protections. My guest has been exploring the roots of great replacement theory and the reasons it has spread

with stunning speed throughout the world in recent years.

Ebram X. Kendi is professor of history and founding director of the Howard University Institute

for Advanced Study and Interdisciplinary Research Enterprise Examining Global Rac racism. His newest book is called

Chain of Ideas, The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age. Ibram, welcome back to think.

Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure. What do we need to understand about what

believers in Great Replacement Theory think is happening in the world?

Well, I think believers in Great Replacement Theory have been misled, frankly, into believing that their status, their livelihoods, even their lives are slipping away or being lost at the hands of historically stigmatized groups, whether racialized gender, ethnic groups, in the case of the

United States, it could be African Americans, it could be immigrants from Latin America or Asia.

But I think the most important thing that people should understand is that those who are expressing this great replacement theory are doing it to make people be willing to consent to authoritarianism. Because once you believe that you're under attack,

you're going to look for somebody who's going to defend you. And then once that defender is

empowered, they can then turn around and tell you, I need actually your rights and freedoms in order

to protect you. Just so I'm clear, Ibram, this is kind of a one-sided thing, right?

There's not a lot of evidence that like non-white immigrants and marginalized groups in different

places around the world, they don't seem to share this belief that they're going to replace

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