How the Far Right Uses Mystical Racism to Demonize Migrants

It’s not uncommon to hear the deeply political say they’re in a fight for America’s soul.

But when members of the radical right say they’re fighting for America’s soul, they often mean they’re fighting for white America’s soul, fighting to prevent the “poisoning [of] the blood of our country” that Donald Trump warned migrants are engaged in. And many believe it is, quite literally, a spiritual battle.

From Black Lives Matter to corn (yes, even the plant kingdom isn’t safe), fringe right-wingers believe America is under attack by demonic forces—and those demonic forces are almost invariably tied to non-white communities.

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There’s a long history of Europeans instinctively writing off aspects of other cultures as demonic, with the rationale always rooted in a deep sense of cultural superiority and racial animus. As Christianity spread from the Middle East to Europe, European cultures adopted their racial views to their newfound religion. Any part of such non-Christian cultures suddenly became suspect, victims of a mystical racism that applied the Christian rhetoric of supernatural enemies, the “evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world” discussed in the Bible, to pre-existing racist views.

Coffee, for example, originated in Africa and was popularized in the Middle East, leading many in the medieval-era Catholic Church to view it as “the devil’s drink.” That association was only ended after Pope Clement VIII tasted it sometime around 1600, immediately became a fan, and according to legend remarked that something so good couldn’t be left exclusively to “infidels.”

Mesoamerican agricultural practices were similarly viewed as a threat by Spanish colonizers, who saw the religious use of certain plants as reason to ban them completely, even when they had other benign or positive uses. One such example is amaranth, a pseudocereal chock full of antioxidants, fiber, protein, and other nutrients that have led health-foodies to adopt it in modern times as a superfood similar to quinoa.

A sect of today’s radical right is similarly concerned about corn. You’ll encounter this idea in weird corners of the internet—and even among some right-wing politicos and activists—where a conspiracy-minded argument mixes evangelical religiosity, nativism, and Bronze Age Pervert-style anti-obesity fetishism that looks askance at America’s heavy use of high-fructose corn syrup.

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The ridiculous argument goes something like this: the Aztecs worshiped a deity named Centeotl, the god of maize. Human sacrifice was a common religious practice in Mesoamerica. That there is only one God is a central tenet of Christianity, and He wouldn’t ask for human sacrifices. Therefore, Centeotl is a demon and the corn baby goes out with the Centeotl bathwater.

It’s an odd, modern spin on the old in-group/out-group mentality. Pre-Christian Europe saw its fair share of human sacrifice and pagan worship as well—and yet wheat, potatoes, and olives are somehow exempt from spiritualistic aspersions.

And whatever the religious makeup of Mexico centuries ago, modern-day Mexico’s population is far more Christian than Europe’s; according to the 2020 Mexican census, 78 percent of the population is Roman Catholic and 10 percent is Protestant. There isn’t a country in Western Europe that approaches 88 percent of its population being Christian. For those who would argue Christianity in Mexico is just a cultural identifier, most Christians in Europe aren’t practicing.

Back in 2007, one Republican was radically honest about how race and religion intersected in his worldview, introducing a resolution to the Utah GOP that said undocumented migrants are sent to the United States by Satan as part of his plan to destroy America. It’s a view many on the right share, though they’ve gotten a bit savvier about how they discuss it.

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Pockets of anti-immigration opponents on the far right are using the corn-Aztec narrative as evidence of cultural barbarism—to show Mexicans just aren’t like white Americans. And something as simple as a plant is used as guilt by association.

To be sure, the widespread use of corn syrup is likely responsible for an increase in obesity levels and a host of other health issues. But its use is far more easily chalked up to how cheap it is; under the Scooby-Doo villain’s mask of conspiracy theories and corn demons, one will likely find the face of a bottom line-obsessed corporate business executive. Similarly, homogenized and genetically modified corn grown in the United States today is radically different from that found in Mesoamerica in the days of the Aztecs—it’s been stripped of much of its nutritional value.

Again, U.S.-based corporations bear the blame for whatever evils corn has unleashed on America.

But this mystic racism can be found in other areas, as well.

In the wake of Black Lives Matters protests and riots in 2020, some Catholic leaders performed exorcisms to drive out the demons behind the civil unrest. The admittedly spiritual rhetoric of some participants in the BLM movement led certain overly concerned Christians to claim that invoking George Floyd’s name at rallies or in Twitter hashtags was literal witchcraft.

Even Christians aren’t safe from race-based accusations of demonry.

During a 2022 interview, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said that “Satan is controlling the [Catholic] Church” because of its pro-migrant stance. There isn’t enough space to include the countless examples of Protestant National Conservative-types accusing the Catholic Church of being satanic because of its strong social justice-based stance on immigration and race.

Framing these issues in religious terms gives right-wing extremists just enough cover to claim that what they’re arguing isn’t actually racist.

The radical right loves a veneer; disguising what one really means or believes before the public is central to their political movement. They’ve developed code words and dog whistles–like the 14 words, the number 88, and “noticing things,” an innocuous-seeming phrase popularized by far-right writer Steve Sailer that signals the user has noticed supposed racial differences that support a white supremacist worldview. They also often obscure their views behind layers of irony or the pretense of “just asking questions.”

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The insular online culture in which they participate rewards this trollish style of communication for its perceived cleverness—there’s pleasure to be derived from understanding and sharing esoteric references that make you feel smarter and more in the know than others.

Some of the radical right’s most prominent thinkers—such as the pseudonymous hard-right influencer Bronze Age Pervert—go so far as to encourage adherents to lie about their worldview and influences. Underneath all their public-facing personas is bigotry, plain and simple.

As Pope Francis has said, racism “goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting.” Hiding behind religious rhetoric does nothing to change the reality of racism.