Today, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi explains how great replacement theory is an update on Nazi ideology—and why the struggle today is between anti-racist democracy and racist dictatorship.
In Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age, Dr. Kendi argues that what we call “neo-Nazism” isn’t new at all—it’s a renovation of Nazi theory with the same bones, just updated for 2026. Instead of Jews as replacers, it’s Muslims or Black people. Instead of “international Jewry,” it’s “globalists.” The book also introduces a distinction between privilege and power. In Dr. Kendi’s view, most people in positions of privilege are, whether they know it or not, dominated by oligarchs who provide those privileges in exchange for submission.
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is Professor of History and founding director of the Howard University Institute for Advanced Study. He is the author of Stamped from the Beginning, which won the National Book Award, and How to Be an Antiracist.
