April 14, 2019

When the stochastic terrorist in the White House was all but approving crosshairs on freshman congressperson Ilhan Omar, Democrats nationwide demanded that their elected representatives stand up for Omar and stand against the Islamophobia and hate in which Donald Trump regularly peddles.

Some were exactly what Democrats should say:

Others less so:

But Rep. Rashida Tlaib, like Omar, a freshman female Muslim congressperson, felt that both sides of Congress has fallen short of truly embracing diversity, including her own party.

Tlaib appeared on AM Joy to remind her fellow congresspeople that she was elected by a truly diverse and representative demographic of America and it's time for the old guard to catch up to the changing face of America.

"What I am taken aback by is the institution we're in. I told somebody I feel more Palestinian in Congress than I do when I visit my grandmother in Palestine. That alone--this sense of identity--being at the forefront when, you know, Ilhan Omar and myself, Alexandria [Ocasio-Cortez], Ayanna [Pressley] so many women, incredible women, we were standing up in our communities and organizing our communities around economic justice issues, myself around environmental justice issues. So for us this was continuing our giving back to the community that raised us and for so many in Congress I think it's, you know, both sides, they are just kind of taken aback. Like, wow, ‘They got elected?'

Yeah, we did. We did because we outwork hate, but we also know that our neighbors, the communities that we are growing -- raising our children in, myself and Ilhan, this is communities that are coming from a place of love and respect and choosing us because we are the best person for the job, not because of our ethnic backgrounds but they can see that we care more than any of our opponents did and we care more about the future of our country."

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