Ilhan Omar’s election: An example of American inclusiveness

On December 7, 2016, she was invited to the White House for a meeting as part of strategic planning for newly elected Democratic lawmakers.

After the briefing, she took a cab to her hotel and on her way, she was targeted for her faith by the driver.

“It was the most hateful, derogatory, Islamophobic and sexist taunts I have ever experienced. The cab driver called me ISIS and threatened to remove my Hijab,”Ilhan Omar posted on her Facebook Page, exactly a month after her election to Minnesota House of Representatives.

Omar, a Somali American, made history by being elected to the House of Representative in Minnesota on November 8, as the first first Muslim female political leader in a year when anti-immigrant rhetoric rose to unprecedented levels.

Among the many accolades she has received since her election from mainstream American leaders and experts has been the one coming from Rachel Maddow, the popular daily show anchor and news analyst on MSNBC channel, calling Omar “a beacon, a symbol of hope.”

But there is no tribute greater for Omar than her own inspiring story of struggles as a Somali girl, and immigrant woman, who overcome many challenges before finding support among diverse communities.

Omar was born in Somalia and her family fled Somalia during the Civil war, when she was just 8-year-old, lived in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years.

Her family managed to immigrate to the United States, arriving in Arlington Virginia, when Omar was 12. After few years, her family decided to move to Minneapolis.

The national and International media applauded Ilhan Omar’s astounding victory against a longtime Republican candidate in Minnesota.

As reported by People Magazine Omar’s experience began in her school and as she describes, “Not a lot of the kids knew how to coexist with people of a different background, so we created a unity and diversity program.”

“We’d have meals together and connect through experiences and stories. I was finally just ‘Ilhan,’ not ‘that Somali girl.”

She worked hard played by the rules and thrived and chose to work in the social fields and politics.

Omar want to urge the women and minorities to live up to their dreams. According to the Time Magazine “I believe women and minorities often wait for permission to be invited to something; we need to stop doing that,” she said.
Her election has been interpreted in many ways.

The Guardian summed up in an article on her victory noting that Omar is a practicing Muslim, wears a hijab and “walked a long and difficult path to election, and won in a year where Muslims faced a barrage of hate crimes and threats.”

Omar has vowed to continue her struggles for justice and equality, and sees great hope in her victory – a strong rebuttal of bigotry practiced by few. For her the hopeful message holds much importance and must be highlighted.

“It sort of provides a counternarrative to say well, all is not bad. That there is good,” she told Voice of America.

She explained the fact that if someone like her, who has all the odds against her can succeed, then, the United States has a balance in place, which counteracts what is bad with good.

“We just have to figure out a way to come together, and make sure that we are amplifying the voices of good.”

FEATURED IMAGE above by Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons