India Walton: The Buffalo Massacre Is Rooted in Segregation and Disinvestment
The racist massacre in Buffalo didn’t come from nowhere. Jacobin spoke to India Walton, last year’s socialist mayoral candidate, about the horrific shooting’s local roots in racial segregation and disinvestment in poor and working-class black neighborhoods.
A sidewalk chalk mural with the names of the people killed during the mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
On May 14, a teenager inspired by the white supremacist call to stop the “great replacement” — a conspiracy theory that white Americans are being replaced by immigrants and people of color — opened fire at the Tops supermarket in a black neighborhood in Buffalo. He killed ten people and injured another three, leaving behind several generations of grieving family and friends.
India Walton, a Buffalo community leader and last year’s socialist mayoral candidate, spoke to Jacobin about the tragedy and its local roots in segregation and disinvestment.
Hadas Thier
Thank you for taking the time and headspace to talk, during this painful and difficult week. How has this hit you, as a Buffalo born-and-raised black woman who’s been on the front line of anti-racist struggles?
India Walton
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