What Next - They Came For Ibram X Kendi. He’s Still Here.

In this episode of What Next, host Mary Harris engages in a deep conversation with Ibram X. Kendi, the acclaimed historian and author of Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age. Kendi reflects on his journey as a public intellectual, the intense backlash he's faced from conservatives and even some fellow anti-racism advocates, and how his work has been weaponized in political discourse. He discusses how Great Replacement Theory—a global far-right ideology—has evolved from its French origins in the work of Renaud Camus to become a transnational tool for justifying authoritarianism, from Vladimir Putin to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. Kendi argues that the theory is not just about race but about consolidating power through fear, misinformation, and the suppression of truth. He challenges the notion that anti-racism is a personal self-help project, emphasizing instead its role in transforming society. Despite the challenges of a hostile media landscape and the difficulty of replacing toxic ideas with better ones, Kendi remains hopeful, pointing to real-world examples of transformation and the power of collective action. The episode underscores the urgency of building an anti-racist democracy, even in the absence of clear models, and reclaims anti-racism as a dynamic, evolving practice rather than a fixed identity.