The community in Buffalo, New York, gathered on Tuesday to grieve and pay tribute to the victims of Saturday's mass shooting in Jefferson Avenue Tops supermarket.
Hundreds of people gathered in an empty lot across the street from the racist attack location to pay their respects to the ten deceased victims. Three more people were injured as a result of the attack.
According to NPR, local activists, religious leaders, and business owners attended the vigil on Tuesday evening, which featured compelling religious songs and appeals to action.
Many people in the crowd sobbed as the names of the dead were read aloud, indicating the deep emotions that still exist days after the incident.
Many of those who spoke expressed their want to see tangible results from Saturday's attack. Speakers made it clear that politicians must address racial supremacy through deliberate policy change.
Shaun King, a well-known civil rights activist, spoke extensively about the importance of lawmakers taking action. He noted that they should make a "deep change" happen instead of just sending thoughts and prayers.
"Here's what we need to see from the city of Buffalo, from the state of New York, and from our federal government: Show us the budget that you have to confront white supremacy," he added.
US President Joe Biden Condemns the Racially Motivated Hate Crime
The mass shooting that killed ten black persons was classified as a "racially motivated hate crime" by authorities.
According to the Buffalo Police Department, the victims comprised four grocery store employees and six customers, several of whom were regulars at the supermarket.
On Tuesday, per ABC News, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined the Buffalo community in mourning those who died in the attack, calling them "the best of our community."
"The people who were slaughtered by this evil were very good people," Biden said. He also vowed to make the neighborhood safer by campaigning for stricter gun policies and criminal justice reforms.
Read Also : Joe Biden Gets Emotional, Condemns Tragic Buffalo Shooting: "White Supremacy Is a Poison"
Confronting the Baseless Great Replacement Theory
The recent domestic terrorism incidents in Buffalo, Texas, and Laguna Woods, California, illustrate an increasing need for resources to assist people of color's mental health. Moreover, it highlights the challenge among white Americans in confronting the centuries-old mentality called the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, as per a report from Green Bay Press Gazette.
A small percentage of the population believes in that baseless theory. Though, Andrea Huggenvik, social justice program specialist at YWCA Greater Green Bay, observed that white people tend to distance themselves from having difficult conversations about race.
She said the feelings of white people about the matter are "valid." "But it's important to find spaces to be able to work through those feelings, where you're not pushing those feelings off on people of color."
Huggenvik said she often notices that whenever attacks against racial groups are in the news, white people reach out to people of color for comfort, not the other way around.
When attacks against racial groups make the headlines, Huggenvik says she finds that white people seek out people of color for support, not the other way around.
She advises having one-on-one interactions that can extend. A discussion with one's spouse is a good start. Their spouse is conversing with a colleague, eventually, you've had a group of 10 persons addressing both external and internalized prejudice.
According to Lauryn Cross, co-chair of Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the problem is white supremacy is firmly rooted - and maintained - inside the systems in place.
She said that, oftentimes, previous reform attempts further promoted "anti-Blackness" and even risked the lives of people they were meant to protect, hence the efforts were "ineffective in saving lives."
"To get rid of white supremacist violence, you need to eradicate the systems that are in place to uphold such ideology," Cross underscored.
