Hi Friend,
Yesterday, the New York Times published an op-ed I wrote “It Is Not Enough
to Condemn Trump’s Racism.”
It was just one week ago that Trump’s supporters shouted “Send her back!”
as the President used the influence of our highest office to mount racist
attacks directed at me and my family. This rally served as an ugly
reminder to us of the grave stakes of the coming presidential election. It
reminds us that this fight is not merely about policy ideas; it is a fight
for the soul of our nation.
I wrote this op-ed because I love my home, America, and right now, the
ideals at the heart of our founding -- equal protection under the law,
pluralism, religious liberty -- are under attack, and it is up to all of
us to defend them.
Below is my op-ed. Can you take a few minutes today to read it? [ [link removed] ]Then,
will you donate $3 to my re-election campaign and PCCC’s work to elect
bold progressives who will unapologetically defend our democratic values?
Thanks for being in this with me.
- Ilhan
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It Is Not Enough to Condemn Trump’s Racism
Throughout history, demagogues have used state power to target minority
communities and political enemies, often culminating in state violence.
Today, we face that threat in our own country, where the president of the
United States is using the influence of our highest office to mount racist
attacks on communities across the land. In recent weeks, he has lashed out
unprompted against four freshman Democrats in the House of
Representatives: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of
Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and me, from Minnesota.
Last week, as President Trump watched the crowd at one of his rallies
chant “Send her back,” aimed at me and my family, I was reminded of times
when such fearmongering was allowed to flourish. I also couldn’t help but
remember the horrors of civil war in Somalia that my family and I escaped,
the America we expected to find and the one we actually experienced.
The president’s rally will be a defining moment in American history. It
reminds us of the grave stakes of the coming presidential election: that
this fight is not merely about policy ideas; it is a fight for the soul of
our nation. The ideals at the heart of our founding — equal protection
under the law, pluralism, religious liberty — are under attack, and it is
up to all of us to defend them.
Having survived civil war in my home country as a child, I cherish these
values. In Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, I saw grade-school children as
young as me holding assault rifles in the streets. I spent four years in a
refugee camp in Kenya, where there was no formal schooling or even running
water. But my family and I persevered, fortified by our deep solidarity
with one another, the compassion of others and the hope of a better life
in the United States.
The America we arrived in was different from the one my grandfather had
hoped to find. The land of opportunity he imagined was in fact full of
challenges. People identified me in ways that were foreign to me:
immigrant, black. I learned that these identities carried stigmas, and I
experienced prejudice as a visibly Muslim woman.
But the beauty of this country is not that our democracy is perfect. It’s
that embedded in our Constitution and democratic institutions are the
tools to make it better. It was in the diverse community of Minneapolis —
the very community that welcomed me home with open arms after Mr. Trump’s
attacks against me last week — where I learned the true value of
democracy. I started attending political caucuses with my grandfather, who
cherished democracy as only someone who has experienced its absence could.
I soon recognized that the only way to ensure that everyone in my
community had a voice was by participating in the democratic process.
Today, that basic promise is under threat. Our democratic institutions
have been weaponized. The Trump administration has sought to restrict
people from exercising their voting rights. It has sought to undermine the
basic checks and balances of our Constitution by not respecting subpoenas
from Congress. And the president has used overtly racist rhetoric to
strike fear and division in communities of color and religious minorities
across the country.
The idea — explicitly expressed by this president and enshrined into law
by executive order — that people from certain Muslim-majority countries
cannot enter this country is not just bad policy; it is a direct threat to
liberal democracy. The chants of “Jews will not replace us,” shouted at a
rally in Charlottesville in 2017 by white supremacists, whom this
president tacitly accepted, are a direct attack on the values of religious
freedom central to the founding of our nation.
The reasons for weaponizing division are not mysterious. Racial fear
prevents Americans from building community with one another — and
community is the lifeblood of a functioning democratic society. Throughout
our history, racist language has been used to turn American against
American in order to benefit the wealthy elite. Every time Mr. Trump
attacks refugees is a time that could be spent discussing the president’s
unwillingness to raise the federal minimum wage for up to 33 million
Americans. Every racist attack on four members of Congress is a moment he
doesn’t have to address why his choice for labor secretary has spent his
career defending Wall Street banks and Walmart at the expense of workers.
When he is launching attacks on the free press, he isn’t talking about why
his Environmental Protection Agency just refused to ban a pesticide linked
to brain damage in children.
His efforts to pit religious minorities against one another stem from the
same playbook. If working Americans are too busy fighting with one
another, we will never address the very real and deep problems our country
faces — from climate change to soaring inequality to lack of quality
affordable health care.
The only way to push back is to be unequivocal about our values. It is not
enough to condemn Mr. Trump’s racism. We must affirmatively confront
racist policies — whether the caging of immigrant children at the border
or the banning of Muslim immigrants or the allowing of segregation in
public housing. It is not enough to condemn the corruption and
self-dealing of this administration. We must support policies that
unmistakably improve working people’s lives, including by strengthening
collective bargaining, raising the minimum wage and pursuing a universal
jobs guarantee.
The consequences of this fight will not just be felt here at home but
around the world. Right-wing nationalism in Hungary, Russia, France,
Britain and elsewhere is on the march in ways not seen in decades. America
has been a beacon of democratic ideals for the world. If we succumb to the
fever of right-wing nationalism, it will have consequences far beyond our
borders.
The proudest moments in our history — from the Emancipation Proclamation
to the civil rights movement to the struggle against fascism — have come
when we fight to protect and expand basic democratic rights. Today,
democracy is under attack once again. It’s time to respond with the kind
of conviction that has made America great before.
Thank you for taking the time to read my piece. Although these are some
very difficult times, I am also hopeful. I know that together we can use
the powerful tools of our democracy to build an America where all our
welcome.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to make a donation to my re-election campaign and PCCC’s
work to elect bold progressives across the country who will
unapologetically defend our democratic values.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told PCCC members, "The majority of Americans are with us on the policies. Americans support Medicare for All, expanding Social Security benefits, gun reform, debt-free college, and a $15 minimum wage. Bold progressive values are popular EVERYWHERE. Together, we have the people. Together, with your help, we’ll have the votes." Chip in $3 here: [link removed]
Paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (www.BoldProgressives.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions to the PCCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
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