May 2024
On Buffalo Anniversary, National Coalition Calls on Congressional Leadership to Remove Members Who Amplify Bigoted Rhetoric from Committee Assignments
May 13, 2024
Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries:
We, the undersigned organizations, urge Congressional leadership to unequivocally denounce white supremacist conspiracy theories and their use by Members of Congress, acknowledge the pain experienced by communities around the country touched by these tragedies, and encourage Members of your caucuses to refrain from peddling dangerous rhetoric. As we approach the second anniversary of the hate crime in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10 members of the Black community on May 14th, 2022, we are sadly reminded of the deadly impact of this anti-Black rhetoric.
In 2022, a shooter inspired by white supremacy and the conspiratorial notion of a great replacement attacked the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The perpetrator of the Buffalo attack wrote that he was motivated by the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which he believed was facilitating a political replacement of white people. Two years later, this same false notion of “replacement” and “invasion” is leveraged regularly by Members of Congress to further political agendas related to immigration and national security. They echo false claims of an ‘invasion,’ which, under the twisted logic of the conspiracy theory, is purposefully orchestrated by a powerful Jewish cabal to upend white political power structures. This bigoted, dangerous rhetoric and its related dog whistles dehumanize migrants and communities of color, positioning them as an existential threat that must be met with violence.
After receiving his sentence, the Buffalo assailant said in court that he regretted his decision. “I did a terrible thing that day, I shot and killed people because they were Black.[…] I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”
Again and again, our country has experienced hate violence inspired by this conspiratorial rhetoric. We know this because terrorists tell us this in their screeds. Driven by fears of “replacement” and “invasion,” other domestic terrorists targeted the Latino community in El Paso, Texas, and Jews in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Poway, California, among other communities.
Despite this repeated violence across the U.S., Members of Congress continue to invoke the white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that have inspired multiple violent attacks. Members have referred to peaceful migrants and asylum seekers as “invaders” or as an “invasion” at least 127 times in their official capacity in hearings, on the floor, on official social media, or in official press releases.
We implore House and Senate leadership to not only condemn references to conspiratorial and white supremacist rhetoric, including references to “replacement” and an “invasion,” but to recognize the harms carried out by domestic extremists inspired by anti-Black conspiracy theories, remove members who amplify this rhetoric from Committees, and to publicly encourage the Members of your caucuses to refrain from using such rhetoric. We cannot allow prejudiced and inflammatory language to dominate critical policy conversations nor threaten our communities' safety and liberty.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Signed,
Western States Center
2nd Lt. Richard W. Collins III Foundation
Advocates For Change
AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services
America's Voice
Avodah
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Buffalo Jewish Federation
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona
Cleveland Jobs with Justice
Coalition on Human Needs
Color of Change
Democratic Messaging Project
Faith In Texas
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Florida Rising
GIFFORDS
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism
HIAS
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights First
Human Rights First
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Immigration Hub
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
JCRC of Greater Phoenix
JCRC of Jewish Silicon Valley
JCRC of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio
Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island
Jewish Community Relations Broward County
Jewish Community Relations Council of The Birmingham Jewish Federation
Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor
Jewish Federation of Greater Portland
Jews for a Secular Democracy
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
MomsRising
National Black Justice Coalition
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Jewish Women Arizona
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators - NHCSL
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
National Urban League
Newtown Action Alliance
People Power United
Presente.org
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
Southern Poverty Law Center
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
The New York Immigration Coalition
The Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United)
The Sikh Coalition
Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center
UndocuBlack Network
United We Dream
Voto Latino
#WelcomeWithDignity
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
Witness at the Border
Youngstown Area Jewish Federation