Replacement isn’t so much a theory as it is a demographic fact – but not in the way it is being discussed on the right. We don’t know what the Neanderthals had to say about the scruffy little humans that drove them into extinction. Raiders, immigrants and other wanderers have been replacing indigenous populations for tens of thousands of years. Darwinian selection as the driving force behind evolution has been popularly characterized as the “selection of the fittest.” The notion that we, the survivors in life’s competition, represent the best nature has achieved surely plays to our vanity.

Yet, what if Darwin actually got it backward and evolution operates on the principle of expunging the least fit amongst us? Perhaps survival is not so much a victory as a Hobbesian struggle to maintain a safe distance from the drain at the bottom of the gene pool. North Carolina Republicans’ decision to toss Madison Cawthorn overboard surely offers hope a similar fate might await Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, whose lack of fitness is readily assessed.

Colorado’s history is not without its own replacement dramas. The pioneers we honor were a brutal bunch, more than willing to slaughter any tribal peoples who thought our plains and mountains were theirs. They were displaced with a ferocity that must have felt like a coordinated assault. National polling indicates 60% of Republicans believe a scheme exists, driven by an elite cabal (often presumed to be Jewish), to replace the white race with immigrants and people of color. This theory suffers several very serious logical flaws. It’s fair to ask, who is likely to be replaced?

Pew points out that most American Jews regard themselves as white and an even larger majority of African Americans have roots that run far deeper into this country’s history than the whites who fear them. This disconnect leaves us suspicious that white racism lurks as a motive. Both Dylan Roof in Charleston and now Payton Gendron in Buffalo have confessed to hoping they would trigger a race war. To what end?

There isn’t a scintilla of evidence that black Americans have any desire to replace white Americans. They do think it’s important to recall they arrived here against their will and were then enslaved. They would also prefer to be treated equally as the Constitution requires, both economically and before the law. Critical Race Theory is a theory that happens to be true.

Replacement theory, in contrast, is a fantasy spun from fears – bogus fears that immigrants, resident minorities and feminists are colluding in a stealth campaign to award themselves more rights than whites. There are real crises to worry about in the 21st century. Whether by design or through systemic contradictions, capitalism has been funneling virtually all its profits to a handful of the wealthiest Americans. Climate change threatens to literally burn down our house, as Coloradans know only too well. Partisan gridlock has brought government to a halt in Washington and for the first time in our nation’s experience, coming generations may well be poorer than their parents. Health care is a mess and higher education prohibitively expensive.

A recent worldwide poll found three-fourths of young people feel their futures are frightening, with 56% agreeing they feel humanity is doomed. The Great Replacement Theory is part of a movement that can be traced back across two hundred years of American political life. It has a long history that previously focused its ire on Catholics, the Irish, Italians, Jews and Asians. This zealotry rejects the promise of the melting pot – of Americanism as an identity that can be assumed by every immigrant irrespective of their origins. It ignores the indisputable reality that “Americans-by-choice” arrive here because they cherish the economic opportunities and personal liberties available to them, often escaping horrors or injustices imposed at home.

White nationalists know this. They recognize most new Americans are successful because they work harder at becoming better citizens than many of us who were born here. Consequently, critics flagrantly lie about immigrants. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is sponsoring a resolution demanding that President Biden launch an attack on violent crime with a specific focus on immigrant criminals. Even the Libertarian Cato Institute has rejected such attacks, pointing out that our immigrants commit far fewer crimes than the general American population. No sensible immigrant is willing to risk their good fortune at reaching our shores.

Current attempts to restrict access to abortion and contraception are viewed as a method for compelling white women to produce more white babies – to forcibly out-breed dark-skinned mothers and resist the great replacement. It’s an agenda that will be rejected if we remain a democracy. It could only be enforced with violence. Twenty percent of Americans say they are OK with that. Be concerned.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.