The racist targeting of Rep. Ilhan Omar, which for years resulted in death threats and opportunistic smears, is well documented. But on Thursday, it reached something of a climax, a needless and incredibly depressing one, as House Republicans voted to kick her out of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The official rationale was anti-Semitism. But anyone with half a brain knows that Omar's identity as a Black Muslim woman with power was at the root of today's spectacle. Here's my colleague Pema Levy with a blistering takedown of the glaring racism and Islamophobia that animated the vote, as well as the GOP's relentless efforts to turn the Minnesota congresswoman into a bogeyman:
Omar, speaking before the vote, asked if it is any surprise that, given the GOP’s attempt to smear the first Black president as an un-American, African-born Muslim, that the party has now moved on to targeting a Black Muslim who was born in Africa.
It’s not. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), defending Omar on the House floor, accused her Republican colleagues voting to oust Omar of racism. “This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America,” she said.
What happened today is downright wrong. But Omar's remarks ahead of the vote—powerful and defiant in the face of such ugliness—are well worth watching, and offer strength against such a demoralizing display of GOP hate.
—Inae Oh
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