California professor erupts on 'Christian,' 'White men' on PBS: They will cause a 'civil war'
'The groups that tend to start civil wars,' Walter claimed, were 'once dominant and are in decline'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Author and University of California San Diego Professor Barbara F. Walter warned that "Christian," "White men" are primed to start a civil war in America.
Walter, the author of a book titled, "How Civil Wars Start," made her claims on PBS's "Amanpour and Company" Tuesday evening.
She cited observations of over 200 civil wars to decode that these "Christian" White males are the powder keg from which conflict will explode, because they were once "dominant and are in decline."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
The conversation started with PBS NewsHour anchor Hari Sreenivasan, who addressed Walter, stating, "You have studied several types of societies who have been on the brink of, who've been in the middle of, a civil war, who've been after, who've survived after one."
He then asked, "How is America on that timeline? How far along a timeline toward a civil war is the United States?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After explaining how she used to work for a "U.S. government task force that was run through the CIA, that was designed to help our government predict where around the world civil wars and political instability, and political unrest was likely to break out," Walter mentioned some factors that could be looked at to see if America was headed down that road.
Prof. Barbara Walter told PBS anchor Hari Sreenivasan Tuesday that "Christian," "White men" would be the ones to start a civil war in America. (Screenshot/PBS)
Though she acknowledged she was extrapolating, explaining that "The CIA is not allowed to look at the United States," as it’s "not a politicized organization."
Walter continued, "we know very clearly that the two big risk factors are whether a country has a weak and partial democracy, and whether in those countries its political parties had divided along racial, religious, and/or ethnic lines."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added, "So, it really didn't take a lot to know those facts, and then look to see what was happening here in the United States."
Walter went on, noting that oftentimes, "Most people think it's going to be the poorest members of society" who start these wars. Though she rejected that notion, stating, "But, again, they don't start civil wars. The groups that tend to start civil wars, especially ethnically-based civil wars, are the groups that had once been dominant and are in decline."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Walter elaborated: "So, they used to dominate politically, economically, and oftentimes, socially, and they're losing that position oftentimes because demographics are changing."
Touting her expertise, she said, "These were studies that were done on over 200 different civil wars that we've seen around the world. And if you apply that to the United States, you also see similarities."
Getting to her point about White Christian men, the professor declared, "We've seen a significant rise in violent extremism since 2008. Some of it’s been on the left, but the vast majority of it has been on the far-right. And it's been perpetrated almost exclusively by White men."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A couple of months ago, MSNBC host Tiffany Cross claimed it feels like the second American civil war is already here. (MSNBC)
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Linking it back to the data on previously dominant groups lashing out at their new circumstances, Walter added, "And again, if you look at the history of the United States, the group that had been dominant since the very inception of our country were White men. They also tended to be Christian, and they are losing that position."
She concluded with the warning, "you see a subset of this population becoming increasingly resentful, angry, and they truly feel that this is their country, and that they’re being patriots by saving what they believe is the true identity of this country and they're willing to use violence to do it."