Win Without War Condemns White Supremacist Shooting in Buffalo, New York

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WASHINGTON — Win Without War Executive Director Sara Haghdoosti released the following statement regarding the white supremacist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York on May 14: 

“Last week, a white supremacist drove hours to a Black neighborhood and shot 13 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, killing 10. We share our deepest condolences with the families and friends of those who were targeted in this horrific act.

“This is not an isolated incident, but a deep pattern of racist violence and white supremacists targeting communities of color across the country and the world.

“In the words of Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP: “And you thought lynchings are a thing of the past? They’re still happening. Every. Single. Day.”

“White supremacy is bigger than any one individual and must be treated as the existential and national security threat that it is. In order to truly counter the recent rise of right-wing nationalism and domestic terrorism, we need to root out the centuries-old white supremacist values that underlie all our systems, and recognize that white supremacy is not just an issue on one side of the aisle or only in extremist spaces in media.

“The racist myths espoused by the shooter in Buffalo around ‘replacement theory’ are not fringe thoughts, they are old ideas that social media platforms and national news outlets have helped spread — and are frequently profiting from. They have been further normalized in the mainstream with the help of prominent Republican leaders, including Donald Trump.

“White supremacy is fundamentally an ideology of violence that poses a material threat to people’s lives. White supremacist notions like ‘replacement theory’ have caused harm through generations and the fact that dozens of people in Charleston, Pittsburgh, El Paso, and now Buffalo, have died as a result should not be a surprise — but each tragedy is no less devastating.

“Today, tackling white supremacy is a matter of national urgency and core to our collective security. Black leaders have been leading on addressing this challenge for generations. Win Without War will continue to look toward and follow their leadership and the ideas of individuals like Rep. Barbara Lee and groups like the NAACP and Color of Change, to ensure these abhorrent views are no longer tolerated in boardrooms across Silicon Valley, on the airwaves of national broadcasters, or in the halls of Congress.”

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.