Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

VIEWPOINT: White Supremacy in New Zealand

“Hello, brother.”

Those were reportedly the last words of Haji Daoud Nabi as he stood by the entrance of the Al-Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. The 71-year-old Afghan refugee was among the first killed when a gunman stormed two mosques on Friday, March 15, 2019, and began firing indiscriminately at worshippers, killing 50 Muslims in cold blood.

What began as a normal day for these individuals ended in the loss of 50 lives who will never again have the chance to greet their brothers and sisters during the Friday prayer, jumah, or share this sacred space with their neighbors and loved ones.

In the wake of such tragedy, it is easy to view what happened in Christchurch as an isolated incident of unspeakable horror. Recent massacres such as those at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., however, demonstrate that this is not the case. These incidents are connected — they contribute to, stem from and ultimately maintain a xenophobic and racist movement that actively targets marginalized groups, in this case Muslims.

The incidents in these spaces are acts connected by the common throughline of white supremacy. As researchers at The Bridge Initiative, a research project housed here at Georgetown University that tracks Islamophobia, we have witnessed the expansion of white supremacy from fringe groups online to the wider international scene, including its domination of media narratives and widespread use in political rhetoric justifying exclusionary policies.

In the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto — whose name we deliberately omit from the piece to focus our attention on the victims and avoid sensationalizing the shooter himself — he cites Donald Trump, Candace Owens and others who have participated in this dehumanization of Muslims, immigrants and other groups. His obsession with the white genocide conspiracy theory and birth rates echoes the political discourse of Steve King and Geert Wilders, who support policies rooted in racism and xenophobia.

The mainstreaming of white supremacy can be observed in the rhetoric used by politicians surrounding Christchurch. Days before the shooting, Australian Senator Fraser Anning used the phrase “final solution” in calling for a ban on Muslim migration, invoking a term used by Nazi leaders in reference to the Holocaust. Anning’s statement immediately after the massacre further blamed Muslims for the bloodshed, criticizing the country’s immigration program that let them in originally.

In the United States, the president’s response was similarly troubling. Trump did not condemn white supremacy nor express sympathy with Muslims, but rather portrayed himself as a victim. This reaction came a day after he tweeted support for Fox News contributor Jeanine Pirro, who was recently suspended for her anti-Muslim comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

The global consequences of this rise in white supremacist, racist and xenophobic rhetoric are immediate and grim. It normalizes xenophobic attitudes, ushers anti-Muslim speech into the mainstream and informs narratives that inspire violence. It ultimately promotes hate and fear, creating an “us versus them” dichotomy that dehumanizes and excludes on the basis of race, religion and culture.

The mosque, for Muslims, is sacred. When Nabi saw the gunman, he welcomed him into this space meant for community irrespective of difference. That tradition of inclusivity is what is at stake today, in Christchurch and across the world. For our generation and the next, we must protect that tradition.

Caila McHugh is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service. She is a research intern at the Bridge Initiative.

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