White supremacy operates as an idea undergirding Western social structure

Evidence

As Louis Farrakhan thundered at the climax of his two-and-a-half-hour oration, “The real evil in America is not white flesh or black flesh. The real evil in America is the idea that undergirds the setup of the Western world, and that idea is called white supremacy.” — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1151

Categorization

• XREF: Farrakhan here attributes systemic evil to an idea, which sits in tension with Kendi’s inversion (policy before ideas) — a potentially useful counterpoint to test the reader’s core thesis. — connects to: Conspiracy theories become dangerous when fused with resurgent nationalism and white supremacy — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 108; Contemporary right-wing politics elevate performativity and white supremacy in schools — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 922; White Citizens’ Council propaganda fused white supremacy, nationalism, and Christianity — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 556 (+6 more)
• QUESTION: Does Farrakhan’s framing — evil as an idea rather than a policy — actually contradict Kendi’s claim that racist ideas are produced to justify prior racist policy? Worth testing against the book’s inversion.