05/16/22 05/16/22 democracy now! [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i really don't know how to describe it. i talked to him on friday. seeing him -- shooting innocent people was ridiculous. it was a horrifying scene. i have never heard gunshots like that that loud.

amy: i kno what is being called a domestic act of terrorism, what's a premises armed with an assault rifle opened fire on a supermarket and a black neighborhood saturday in buffalo, killing 10 people. of the 13 people shot, 11 were black. we will go to buffalo, new york, to speak with india walton, former buffalo mayoral candidate and longtime community activist. and we will talk to professor ibram x. kendi, whose many books -- whose new piece for the atlantic is headlined "the danger more republicans should be talking about: white-supremacist ideology is harmful to all, especially the naive and defenseless minds of youth." we'll also look at how the buffalo shooter's manifesto refers to "the great replacement," a racist conspiracy theory promoted by far-right media figures like tuer carlton on fox news. >> the other day more leaders were denouncing as for pointing

out the obvious. democrats are intentionally accelerating demographic change for political advantage. amy: then massive abortion rights protests took place across the united states saturday, kickstarting what reproductive justice advocates are calling a summer of rage. >> today is day one of an uprising to protect abortion rights. it is day one of our feminist future. it is day one of a summer of rage where we will be un governable. amy: we'll speak with renee bracey sherman, founder and executive director of we testify of "voting won't save abortion rights." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. residents of buffalo, new york,

gathered at vigils sunday to mourn the 10 people killed a day earlier when a white supremacist wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle opened fire on a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood. of the 13 shoppers and store workers shot in the assault, 11 werelack. among those killed was 72-year-old kat massey, who wrote to the "buffalo news" last year in support of federal gun control laws. police arrested an 18-year-old suspect who reportedly live-streamed the massacre on the video streaming service twitch. the site took the video down within minutes, but the footage continues to circulate among white supremacists online. the suspect left behind a racist manifesto that included a plan to target a mainly black neighborhood. the manifesto plagiarized heavily from a screed left behind by the white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand, in 2019. the manifesto refers to "the

great replacement," a racist conspiracy theorpromoted by far-right media figures including tucker carlson of fox news and embraced by some republicans, including new york congressmember elise stefanik. prosecutors say the shooter purchased the bushmaster xm-15 semiautomatic rifle used in the assault lawfully from a licensed gun dealer in his hometown of conklin, new york, after he passed a background check. that's despite the fact that the suspect previously threatened a mass shooting at his high school the year before. he allegedly modified his rifle to use high-capacity magazines that are banned in new york state. president biden spoke from the white house sunday as the nation mourned the attack. pres. biden: we are still gathering the facts, but already the justice department has stated publicly that it is investigating the matter as a hate crime, racially motivated

act of white supremacy and violent extremism. as they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of america. hearts are heavy once again, but the resolve is never ever waiver. amy: the white house says president biden will visit buffalo on tuesday to meet with the families of victims. we'll have the latest on saturday's mass shooting in buffalo after headlines. saturday's mass shooting in buffalo came on another bloody weekend of gun violence across the united states. in southern california, one person was killed and four others critically wounded sunday, after a gunman opened fire at a presbyterian church in orange county. most of the victims were of taiwanese descent, though it's not clear whether race played a role in the shooting. local officials said the shooting could have been even worse. >> from what we know, there was

a shooter that came in with multiple weapons and started opening fire. fortunately, some of the parishioners here in the congregation jumped on the shooter and tackled him, brought him down to the ground, and held him until the sheriff's department came and was able to arrest the individual. amy: meanwle, in chicago, at least five people were killed and 27 others wounded in shootings across the city since friday. according to the gun violence archive, there have been nearly 58,000 gun deaths across the u.s. since president joe biden's inauguration. abortion rights protests took place across the united states on saturday, kickstarting what organizers are calling a summer of rage. organizers said 20,000 people rallied in washington, d.c., with over 10,000 more in new york. protests took place in over 400 cities and towns as part of a coordinated day of action dubbed bans off our bodies.

the protests came after the publication of a leaked draft inion showed the supreme court is preparing to overturn roe v. wade. speakers in washington included rachel o'leary carmona, the executive director of the women's march. >> today is day one of an uprising to protect abortion rights. it is day one of our feminist future. it is day one of a summer of rage where we will be ungo vernable. amy: monica simpson, the executive director of sistersong also spoke in washington, d.c. >> we need you in every state in every place and everywhere to ensure that we have the reproductive justice that we deserve. i know it is a hard fight but if we stay connected, if we stay together, then i believe

that we will win. you believe we will win? i believe that we will win! i believe that we will win! i believe that we will win! that is what i'm talking about. peace and blessings come everybody. amy: we'll more on the bans off our bodies protests later in the show. leaders of sweden and finland have formally announced that they will seek to join nato within days, ending decades of neutrality. if accepted, sweden and finland would become the 31st and 32nd nations in nato. finland shares an 830-mile border with russia, which has warned both countries it would be a grave mistake to join nato. on saturday, russia cut off electricity to finland. russia had provided finland with about 10% of its electricity. swedish prime minister magdalena andersson spoke on sunday. >> today social democratic party has concluded that sweden should join nato.

our 200 year long standing policy and military nonalignment has served sweden well, but the issue at hand is whether military nonalignment would keep serving us well. in russia's unprovoked invasion of ukraine is not only illegal and indefensible, it also undermines the european security order that sweden built its security on. amy: turkey, which is a member of nat has voiced concern over finland and sweden joining the military alliae, but it is not expected to veto their meership. turkey has long accusesweden of supporting the pkk, kurdistan workers' party, which is banned in turkey. in news from ukraine, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell made a secret trip with other republican lawmakers to meet ukraine's president zelenskyy in kyiv on saturday. the trip comes as e senate is preparing to vote as soon as wednesday on a $40 billion military and economic aid package for ukraine. arms control experts are

expressing concern that the massive military package could lead to a surge in arms smuggling because the u.s. has few systs in pla to trac the arms pouring into ukraine. meanwhile, russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has accused western nations of waging what he called a hybrid war against russia. >> the collective west has declared total hybrid war on us and it is hard to predict how long this will last, but it is clear the consequences will be felt for everyone without exception. we did everything to avoid a direct clash, but nowhat the challenge has been thrown down, we accept it. we are no strangers to sanctions. there were almost always there in one form or another. amy: foreign minisrs of the g7 are warning russia's invasion of ukraine is leading to a global hunger crisis. this is germany's foreign minister annalena baerbock. >> russia has deliberately

decided to extend the military war against ukraine into a war of grains and so-called wheat war, in many states, especially africa. with the blocking as a result of destroyed transport routes and warehouses, the russian incursion into ukrainian territory, we are now faced with this incredibly difficult problem. russia's actions are causing supplies to fail, prices to rise immeasurably not only in our country, but around the world, that threat of real hunger. amy: in related news, india has imposed a ban on wheat exports citing a risk to the nation's food security caused in part by the war in ukraine as well as a massive heat wave. russia has extended the pre-trial detention of wnba superstar brittney griner by another month. the two-time olympic gold medalist and seven-time wnba all-star has been jailed in russia since february after cannabis oil was allegedly found in her luggage when she flew into russia to play during the

wnba's offseason. the u.s. state department recently declared that griner is being wrongfully detained in russia. the saudi oil giant aramco has reported making nearly $40 billion in profits during the first three months of the year. that is an 80% jump over last year. "the wall street journal" reports aramco recently became the world's most valuable company, surpassing apple. the company is now worth $2.4 trillion. palestinians held protests across the occupied west bank and gaza sunday to mark the 74th anniversary of the nakba, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes after the state of israel was formed. at least 16 palestinians were injured in the west bank city of al-bireh when israeli forces attacked a nakba day protest. the palestine red crescent society said seven palestinians were shot by live ammution,

three others by rubber-coated steel bullets. meanwhile, israel is facing international condemnation after israeli forces attacked mourners on friday at the funeral of the palestinian-american al jazeera reporter shireen abu akleh who was shot dead while covering an israeli raid in the jenin refugee camp. a spokesperson for u.n. secretary general antonio guterres said he was "deeply disturbed" by what happened at the funeral. in lebanon, voters headed to the polls on sunday for the first parliamentary elections since 2018. lebanon is facing a dire economic crisis with the official unemployment rate at 30%. in news from somalia, hassan shei mohamud has been sworn in as somalia's next president after beating 35 other candidates in a long overdue election. hassan sheikh mohamud previously led somalia from 2012 and 2017. somalia is facing multiple

crisis, including a devastating drought and an armed insurgency led by the group al-shabab. earlier this month, al-shabab fighters attacked an african union base in somalia killing 10 soldiers from burundi who were serving as part of an african union peacekeeping team. and in political news, today is the final full day of campaigning ahead of tuesday's closely watched primary races in pennsylvania. on friday, pennsylvania's democratic lieutenant governor john fetterman, who is running for senate, suffered a stroke but sa he is on his wato full recery. meanwhile, in the republican senate race, polls show a tight three-way race between television doctor mehmet oz who was endorsed by donald trump, hedge fund executive david mccormick, and far-right republican kathy barnette who was soared in polls in recent weeks. over the weekend, barnette and republican gubernatorial candidate doug mastriano banned reporters from campaign events. "philadelphia inquirer" columnist will bunch described the ban as part of a "dramatic escalation in the war on a free

press in america." in other political news, democratic senator chris van hollen of maryland suffered what he called a minor stroke on sunday. and those are some of the headnes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. residents of buffalo, new york, gathered at vigils sunday to mourn the 10 people killed a day earlier when a white supremacist wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle opened fire on a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood. of the 13 shoppers and store workers shot in the assault,1 were black. buffalo resident grady lewis witnessed the shooting. >> standing right across the street and i heard a shot that i knew was not a firecracker. i looked up and all i seen was smoke and a guy just shooting. shooting in the parking lot. then i seen this occur to guard

-- security guard run inside the store. and then the guy bent down and was shooting inside the store. i heard at least 20 shots. i did not have a phone so i was yelling for people to call the police. i looked over and i see, and on the ground, woman on the ground behind the gates. amy: police are calling it a domestic terror attack. they have arrested an 18-year-old suspect who reportedly live-streamed the massacre on the video streaming service twitch. the site took the video down within minutes, but the footage continues to circulate among white supremacists online. the suspect left behind a racist manifesto that included a plan to target a mainly black neighborhood. investigators say he had researched the area and drove about 200 miles from his home in conklin, new york before arriving a day in advance to conduct reconnaissance. the manifesto heavily

plagiarized a screed left behind by the white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand, in 2019. the manifesto refers to "the great replacement," a racist conspiracy theory promoted by far-right media figures like tucker carlson of fox news and embraced by some republicans including new york congressmember elise stefanik. prosecutors say the shooter purchased the bushmaster xm-15 semiautomatic rifle used in the assault lawfully from a licensed gun dealer in his hometown of after he passed a background check. that's despite the fact that the suspect previously threatened a mass shooting at his high school the year before. he allegedly modified the rifle to use a high-capacity magazine that's banned in new york state. president biden spoke from the white house sunday as buffalo mourned the attack. pres. biden: we're still gathering the fact when already

the justice department has stated publicly it is investigating the matter as a hate crime, racially motivated act of white supremacy violent extremism. as they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the ul of ameri. hearts are heavy once again, but a resolve has never waiver. amy: the white house says president biden will visit buffalo tuesday to meet with victims' families. journalist madison carter's tweet eulogizing one of the victims, pearly young, went viral. carter wrote -- "pearly young, 77, was killed today in #buffalo shopping for groceries. for 25 years she ran a pantry where every saturday she fed people in central park. every. saturday. she loved singing, dancing, & being with family. she was a mother grandma, & , missionary. gone too soon."

other named victims include former buffalo police lt. aaron salter, who was an off-duty guard. also killed were ruth whitfield, katherine "kat" massey, heyward patterson, celestine chaney, roberta drury, and geraldine talley. andre mcneil, and marcus morrison. we now go to buffalo, where we are joined by india walton, former buffalo mayoral candidate and longtime community activist. now a senior advisor for special projects for the working families party and an organizer with rootsaction. india, welcome back to democracy now! right now you are just a a few blocks from where the shooting took place. can you describe your response over the weekend and what is happening in your community? >> there are a lot of heavy hearts in buffalo right now.

details are still emerging. i did not kno kat massey was one of the victims. i started my organizing career right here in and kat was a pillar of this community and a longtime supporter of the work i did a woman who wrote a $10 check every month to support our community. these are some of the folks that we lost in this very horrific and tragic incident. amy: first of all, my condolences on this horror that has the following your community. this act of domestic terrorism that has taken so many, including the mother, the oldest victim is a motherf the retired fire commissioner. >> yes. you know, there is a broader conversation that has to be had, right? the farmer fire commissioner's mother was in the grocery store

because it is the only place for black folks to shop on this side of town. this is not only a question of a loan after who was a white supremacist, it is a conversation that has to be had and policy that has to be made to undo the systemic harms that have been caused by a structure of white supremacy that has not only permeated the united states of america, but also has trickled down into cities just like buffalo. we know 80% of the population of the east side of buffalo are people of color, black people specifically. they have one place to shop. now they have zero places to shop because we don't know when our grocery store is going to open backup. amy: this is a crital point, this top grocery store. before it was brought into this community into other parts of buffalo but wasn't here, you had a food desert here.

right now because it is close, a people who are desperately trying to get the services this door provided like prescription drugs delivered to them, food that is refrigerated, dealing with a community that lived in a food desert now goes back to that once again but most importantly, the issue of structural racism that you're talking about, india. >> exactly. we have dubbed it food apartheid because it is a policy decision. deserts aren't actually occurring in the fact there is no food on the east side of buffalo, not the availability of basic services, is a policy choice. there are people who actively chose to not provide services in the community. for a long time, we have been told we are lucky to have this because no one will come into the neighborhood because they are afraid of retail theft or many other reasons why we ha been led to believe that black folks don't deserve the same

things that other communities do. amy: you talk about segregation by design, that that is a description of your neighborhood. can you explain how the kensington expressway divides the african-american community? >> absolutely. again, a policy choice where folks needed to get in and out of the city of buffalo very quickly, the kensington expressway was designed to move people from the airport into the city quickly. as a matter of fact, there was an intentional choice to blast through very hard multiple levels of rock to make the expressway so folks did not have to see the blight in t surroundg communities. to get in and out as quickly as possible. it had devastating and for mental impacts, health impacts.

we know people who live around the expressway have higher rates of asthma and other illnesses. aggressively as policy was created to make the harm, we have to make sure equal and more energy is put into undoing that. $1 billionas recentlbeen allocated to cover but we know that is not a real solution. it should be eliminated and restore the beautiful parkway that it once was. amy: what do you want to say to president biden tomorrow? what do you want to say to this country about the fact domestic terrorism that has taken place -- this young white man who describes himself as a white supremacist, a fascist, puts out this 180 page screed, much of it taken from the christchurch massacre screed that talks about the great replacement theory and

more. he had actually come there a day before to the tops to do reconnaissance. he wanted to kill many more people. he was picked up a year ago by state troopers because his school had called the state police, there were so concerned about him and so much reminding us of what happened with dylann roof traveling hours to get to a site of african-americans who he could kill and in that case, a church in south carolina. in this case, it was tops. >> we are at yet another moment of national recognition. this is not an isolated incident. this is more than half a century of oppression, of systemic racism. and now is the time to renew the call for reparations. i think we need bold, reparative action on the forefront of all

of these conversations. prayers and thoughts are not enough. we lived in a community that has been redlined, people intentionally left out of our economic system, people who have been prayed on, extracted from. if we are going to begin to heal as a count and really beat back what is systemic racism that causes these extremist ideas in homegrown terrorists, our people have been terrorized for generations and this country. our existence in this country comes from a place of terror. if you're not having conversations about reparations come about actively undoing the harm that is been caused by redlining, by intentionally leaving black people out of economic and social upward mobility, then it is a nonstarter for people like me who do this work, who care for our community's. you know, we are tired. i am tired. this dude was allowed to go into

our grocery store and shoot up a bunch of grannies and aunties and children -- a eight-year-old child hid in a freezer afraid for her life. we need resources. we need money. we need accessibility and availability of our own -- we have our own grocery stores. we need to be able to have the self-determination on our economy to protect ourselves in our own community. amy: india walton, thanks for being with us, former buffalo mayoral candidate and longtime community activist. now a senior advisor for special projects for the working families party and also works with rootsaction. next up, we will be joined by ibram x. kendi, whose new piece in the atlantic is headlined "the danger more republicans should be talking about: white-supremacist ideology is harmful to all, especially the naive and defenseless minds of youth." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "not the enemy" by nik alexander. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are looking at the mass shooting in buffalo, new york, saturday when an 18-year-old white supremacist wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle opened fire on a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood of buffalo. we just went to buffalo and now we are joined by ibram x. kendi, the andrew w. mellon professor in the humanities at boston university, and the founding director of the boston university center for antiracist research. contributing writer at the atlantic where his new piece published last month, before the attack in buffalo, is headlined, "the danger more republicans should be talking about: white-supremacist ideology is harmful to all, especially the naive and defenseless minds of youth." he is also the author of many books, including "stamped from the beginning: the definitive history of racist ideas in america," which won the national book award for nonfiction. also author of "how to be an antiracist" and the children's

book "antiracist baby." he has two forthcoming books out in "how to raise an antiracist" june, the picture book "good night racism." i hope those books will not be banned as a number of your books have been banned around the country. as you watch this horror unfold this weekend, i think it is very critical to talk about taking the word "fringe" from fringe theory, the great replacement theory. because how mainstream, what is motivating quite explicitly, this young self identified white supremacist fascist who only wished he had killed our people. >> exactly. some of the leading politicians and media figures and intellectuals, particularly over the last two years, if not the last 10 years, have been

asserting this idea that antiracism, that critical race theory, so-called black criminals, that muslim terrorists, that people of color are harming or seeking to replace or even engaging in genocide against white pple. th is the great replacement theory. that is a dominant talking point particularly among members of the republican party. it is certainly not a fringe theory. it was a fringe theory on many levels a decade ago, but it certainly is not now. amy: so respond to what took place this weekend, how it is covered, the issue of it being a domestic terror attack, not a lone gunman, you know, who is suffering from mental illness. last year his school was so concerned about what he was

saying, they called in the new york state police who had him taken permits evaluation yet he could still lawfully by in his hometown the weapon used in this attack. >> for years now, law enforcement officials and the fbi have been talking about and have been acknowledging, whether you're talking about the head of the justice department or the fbi or local officials, referring to white supremacist domestic care is the leading terrorist threat of our time. it is indisputable. we also know that people who are most likely to carry out these accept a mystic terror -- acts of domestic terror are younger, white males. so the fact people in this they should do not recognize we have a serious problem on our hands

and these younger white males are engaging in all sorts of acts of terror against jewish americans, against black americans, against asian americans, against women, against people from the lgbtq+ community and -- i mean, to me, that is part of the toll that i think is weighing on people because even after all of these mass murderers an shootings the last few days, people still do not feel the station is seeking to protect them, seeking to keep them safe. amy: as we continue our coverage of the massacre in buffalo, what led to it, i want to look at the role of fox news in pushing the great replacement conspiracy theory, and opposition to gun control, particularly through fox most popular host tucker carlsen. "new york times" investigation

found he invoked the conspiracy the demoats are trying to force demographic change through immigration in more than 400 episodes of a show on fox news. i want to also bring in another guest to join us, nikki mccann has spent years compiling evidence for the watchdog group media matters of how tucker carlson has used his show to launder white nationalist ideology. nikki mccann ramirez will join us in a second, but just a few examples she found of tucker carlson repeatedly defending the white supremacist great replacement conspiracy theory. this is carlson lashing out last april at president biden's immigration policy. >> unrelenting stream of immigration. why? joe biden just set it come to change the racial mix of the country. to reduce the political power of people whose ancestors lived here and dramatically increase the proportionate americans newly arrived from the third world.

then biden said nonwhite dna is the "source of our strength." imagine saying that. this is the language of eugenics. it is horrifying. there is a reason biden said it. it is called the great replacement. the replacement with more obedient people from faraway countries. amy: that's tucker carlson on fox news last april. this is another clip noted by media matters from last year of carlson's fearmongering about white replacement, genocide, and a race war. >> the left and on twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term "replacement" if you sugst the democratic party is trying to replace the current electoratethe voters now casting ballots, with new people more obedient voters from the third world. they become hysterical because that is what is happening. let's say it it. that is true. amy: in addition to professor kendi, we're joined in washington, d.c., by nikki mccann ramírez, associate

research director at media matters for america. thank you so much for being with us. as we talk about what motivated this 18-year-old white supremacist, talk about the great replacement theory, where it came from, what tucker crossan is doing with that, and how it is being weaponized that everyone from the new york congressmember elise stefanik to the senator from wisconsin ron johnson, congressman perry, and more. >> good morning. thank you for having me on. the great replacement conspiracy theory has included for decades, something -- known as the white replacement or white genocide conspiracy theory. it really came into renewed era prominence in the last decade with acceleration in the last three to four years. in 2012, a french writer published a book and it argued

there is a cabal of jewish people and media figureso eliminate or replace the white race. theory believes -- [indiscernible] what it does is create a dynamic where believers view immigran and nonwhite people as an existential threat, not only to themselves physically, but to their position in society. importantly, this theory once believers to act against their supposed replacement. so i'm people like tucker carlsen present a ready for cable version of that theory, it makes more extreme versions of it more accessible to audiences who would never have encountered

it or would never have really thought about it. if people believe in portions of the theory like e idea that immigrants are being "imported" to replace them demographically, it becomes easier to tack on more extreme versions of the theory and fold them into their belief. amy: can you talk about how fox news has been covering this massacre? >> absolutely. a notable thing that we have seen pretty much since the coverage broke is that fox has been very hesitant to make any reference to the great replacement. or talk about specifics about what was in that shooters manifesto. fox news is aware they have been shing this theory, selling it toward your audience. they do not want to make that connection themselves. i believe what we are seeing fox

news do right now is kind of holdback and fall back onto the traditional reactions they have. this will be used in an attempt to promote greater -- sorry, promote more gun restriction or as we saw yesterday, another host on a sunday show said this shooting will be exploiting [indiscernible] fox news is very aware of the hand have had in bringing the conspiracy to mainstream audiences. an associated press poll found one in three americans now believe immigration is being used as a form of electoral manipulation, electoral replacement. there very aware they have a hand in this narrative. they are being very cautious about how they cover this and are really trying to deflect the narrative onto other issues that don't necessarily implicate them. amy: do we know where the 18-year-old shooter, alleged

shooter payton gendron, learned about the theories? it is a vast screed yes, what, something like 180 pages where he lived online, etc. >> the shooter did publish more than 100 page manifesto. i want to make a caveat here. as we ready know, the manifesto was largely pliarized from writings of other shooters, writingseek out online. we should always take the self published screeds with a bit of a grain of salt. [indiscernible] he didn't really have a lot of direct contact with cable news. but what extremism researchers know is tucker carlsen's rhetoric is very present on these forums. lot of people on these forms view tucker carlsen as an ally in presenting messagi to a

layman'sudnce. so its not unlikely this shooter encountered tucker carlsen, his rhetoric, and a statement about immigration, people of color, would not be unlikely he encountered them online. it is important to point out that presenting a strped down version of this theory, which is what tucker carlsen does -- he does not explicitly make references to racial superiority or explicitly make references to anti-semitiswhen he talks about the great replacement. but what he does do is give viewers context clues that allow them to make those connections themselves. he regularly attacked jewish billionaire george soros is an enemy western civilization, uses racialist land which when discussi the theory. and what that does is make it easier for his audience to find these more extremist spaces, make those connections and

direct them to a place where when a shooting like this happens and you have one third of the population that already believes a large portion or a central tenet of that there is true, it is a lot harder for people to disavow it or say that there is incorrect, should not subscribe to it. they say, oh, this was a "lone wolf attack" or this man was crazy and acting on his own. but the underlying belief can still be considered true. that is a very dangerous thing for the most watched cable news host. amy: you can't help but think about what happen here, what happened at the church in south carolina, what happened in el paso in 2019 with the shooter deliberately went to a place with a large latino population, clientele, customers, the local walmart. he also issued a screed railing

against in a hispanic invasion a poster that online. this was in 2019. professor kendi, clearly, the vast majority of domestic terror attacks in this country are being perpetrated by white right wing white supremacists yet what we have is state after state banning teaching about racism, essentially, when they talk about critical race theory, very loose definition of it. can you respond to this? we are talking about absolute horrors taking place all over this country. >> i think that is the reason why this crisis of white supremacist domestic terror is likely to get worse because our studies have shown antiracist

education, that antiracist books serve in a protective fashion, particularly from white youth, when they are exposed white supremacy to white supremacy. because through learning about the history essay of white supremacy, they are better able to recognize so when they are approached or they see a what supremacist means online or what supremacist entered into the multilayer videogame or they receive messages they are able to recognize it as not only ite supracist ideology, but also recognize it as wrong. and because we are in a time in which even before this so-called attack on critical race theory, it was an abysmal amount of antiracist education in school and there were ve few teachers

who felt they had the ability or the courage to teach the truth about race. and that has only declined. there is a must even a less ability to ptect particularly white male teenagers, which makes them even more vulnerable to white supremacist ideology at a moment they're trying to figure out why there's so much polarization, what is the existential threat? is the existential threat, the problem racism or is it antiracism? is it white supremacist ideology or people of color? clearly, these white supremacists are making the case it is the people of color, that they are the source of their pain -- which is something that many of these young white males have been indoctrinated on, groomed on, thereby carrying out mass shootings. this is only going to get worse if weon't get a handle on it. amy: so what is antiracist

education look like? >> antiracist education first and foremost is teaching our children about the history of the white supremacist ideology, the role white supremacist ideology played in our racial -- in settler colonialism, in jim crow. it is also teaching white children and children of color about all the different people of all races who challenged settler colonialism anslavery and jim crow and mass incarceration. it is teaching children their multiple cultures, just as there are multiple cultures -- were colors, and we should value them more equally. it is teaching children the source of racial disparities and inequities in our community is not the inferiority of a politico -- particularly, but policy. teaching children our racial reality so they can see --

though we look differently, though we speak differently, we are all equal. at the cost of these inequities are in racism. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. there is so much more to talk about and we will continue this discussion. ibram x. kendi's new piece in the atlantic which we will link to "the danger more republicans , should be talking about: white-supremacist ideology is harmful to all, especially the naive and defenseless minds of youth." professor of humanities at boston university and the founding director of the boston university center for antiracist research. and nikki mccann ramirez is an associate research director at media matters joining us from washington, d.c. non-we will stay in washington as we talk about the abortion protest, the hundreds of protests that took place nationwide this weekend. we will speak with renee bracey sherman of we testify.

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amy: "amendment" by ani difranco. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show looking at the massive abortion rights protests that took place across the united states saturday, kickstarting what reproductive justice advocates are calling a summer of rage. tens of thousands of people took to the streets in over 400 u.s. cities and towns. from washington, d.c., new york ci, chicago, san antonio, phoenix and los angeles, as part of a coordinated day of action, under the banner "bans off our bodies." the upring comes in response to the recent publication of a leaked supreme court draft opinion showing the court is poised to overturn roe v. wade. monica simpson, the executive director of sistersong, spoke at the d.c. rally. >> we need you to get in the

fight with us. we need you at every action, and every state and place and everywhere to ensure that we have the reproductive justice that we deserve. i know it is a hard fight. i know we've got the lonhaul to go we stay connected, if we stay together, then i believe that we will win. do you believe we will win? i believe that we will win! i believe that we will win! i believe that we will win! that is what i'm talking about. peace and blessings come everybody. thank you. amy: this comes as frustration is growing against president biden and the democratic party, which controls the house and senate, for failing to put forward a plan to preserve federal abortion rights even if the supreme court overturns roe v. wade. last week, democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia joined with senate republicans blocking the efforts. meanwhile, house speaker nancy pelosi and other top democrats are continuing to support

a conservative antiabortion democrat in texas, congress member henry cuellar of texas despite his long-standing opposition to reproductive rights. cuellar is the last anti-choice democrat in the house and faces progressive challenger jessica cisneros in a tightly contested primary election runoff that ends may 24. for more, we're joined in washington, d.c., by renee bracey sherman, award winning activist, founder and executive director of we testify, which is dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions. she has written a number of pieces. in time magazine "voting won't , save abortion rights" and last year wrote a piece for rewire headlined "the fall of 'roe' was driven by our country's original sin: anti-blackness." welcome to democracy now!

explain. >> where do i begin? talking about white replacement there in your last segment. i have long argued the antiabortion movement is simply the political movement of white nationalistsnd white supremacists because they have been engaged in white replacement theory since the beginning of abortion restriction, whichtarted in the 1860's because black people gottfried come slavery ended, and people were afraid that white women are not going to have enough children to be able to maintain the population and that black people would continue to have children as they were forced to do under chattel slavery and take over and become higher in population, political voting blocs, things like that. so abortion restrictions were really to push white people to have more babies and restrict,

again, control the fertility of black and brown people across this country. and every single time you see black people getting free, black liberation, after black lives matter, you will also see a lot of antiabortion restrictions because white people are afraid of the political power that black people are able to get in people of color everywhere, right, immigrants, undocumented, queer folk -- all of us. they are afraid of us challenging the status quo and being able to decide if when and how to have our families. so all of this goes hand-in-hand . that is why when we talk about this we cannot simply be, oh, just vote in more politicians. if we do not have politicians and legislative leaders that understand how complex all of this is and how we need a multipronged approach to protect

our freedoms, our reproductive freedoms, we are never going to win. we are always going to have restrictions on our families. it is all connected. amy: you are wearing a t-shirt that says "i had an abortion." what is that so important to proclaim? it is really the foundation of your organization. >> yeah. like many of the people watching right no i had an abortion when i was 19. it was one of the best decisions i made in my life. i was in a relationship that was toxic and unsafe. i simply did not want to be pregnant. i knew that i could have any abortion. my family talked about it years before. so i did. but i felt the stigma and shame, particularly as a biracial black woman. didn't really see people talking about abortion access for us and the intersection of racism,

anti-blackness, and lack of abortion access and how for black folks, we are dammed if we do and m depue don't. the same people who shame us are having abortions the same people who shame us if we are single black parents. i felt a lot of that shame. i decided i did not wt to feel it anymore and i wanted to start sharing i story and it is because i met other people who had abortions. then i shared my story so much that people in my family started sharing their abortion stories, including my mother who later told me that she had an abortion before i was born. it really reminds us that everyone we love has had an abortion and abortion is away and which we can grow our families and create our families, how we build our families. it is why i am here because my mother was able to decide if, when, and how to grow her family and i was able to make that a same decision. it is critical for all of us who

have had abortions to share our stories. we saw that at the rallies across the country and people sharing stories for the first time and some who were sharing it for the 20th. this is a moment for us to share our stories, change the conversation, and demand action now. amy: renee, have been very critical of the democratic party. the conservative supreme court is about to hand down a decision if the draft is an indication, which we expect it is, the draft opinion, they're going to overturn roe v. wade. you're also critical of the democrats. why? >> yeah. you know, i have learned over the last couple of years i guess the worst thing a progressive can do is ask democrats to do their jobs when they have power. i have been any abortion activist for well over a decade. i feel like i have seen a lot of broken promises to people who

are trying to get abortions. during the obama years when we saw all of the restrictions, you know, and acting across the states, we asked if there was action that could be taken. there were several times in which the administration said that abortion access wasn't the front issue. in fact, policies that were racist and discriminatory like the haida movement, which does not allow medicaid to cover abortion care, was not repealed. there wasn't even like a bully pulpit to try. we were asked to wait and wait and wait and meanwhile, still get all of the emails from all of the democrats saying you need to vote for us, you need to fund raise for us because we are going to save roe. i am just asking, win? it has been well over a decade of this and i want to know where is the action? today marks the 481st day

president biden has been in office and he is only use the word "abortion" ones. he has not given us a plan. he has not had an open meeting with people who are having abortions or providing abortions in this moment. in fact, he has spent the last two weeks since this leak meeting with police officers to give them more money, he has met with gun manufacturers. my question is, at what point are we -- those of us who have had abortions or try to have abortions right now and providing abortions, going to get the same attention from our pro-choice president? it is super important that everyone vote, absolutely, and you should vote for politicians who are going to protect your bodily autonomy whether it is abortion rights for trans rights, but also when those elected officials are in office, it is not enough to vote for them. we need to ask them to do their

jobs. where is the plan? president biden, whole of government response. we need to see it. amy: renee bracey sherman, thank you for being with us, executive director of we testify. that does it for our show. stay

♪♪♪ sally sara: in the mountains of the himalayas, a young girl leads the way home. she's been separated from her family for almost a year, sent to school in kathmandu. instead, she landed in a nightmare. kate van doore: children are being recruited or transferred into orphanages for the purposes of exploitation and profit. what better object of charity than an orphaned child? sally: thousands of children in nepal are being forced to pose as orphans to attract western donations.