CLASH OF IDENTITY, GENERATIONS IN GOV.

In this country, hate clearly has no place anywhere – right? So why is there a new congressional resolution on the subject of hate and discrimination? U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), one of the newly elected House members in Congress, was accused by both political parties of anti-Semitic remarks after criticizing a lobbying group that has ties to the government of Israel. Soon after, most politicians were calling for her to apologize – and after she did, they still said they felt like she was being anti-Semitic.

It’s interesting, because the Democratic Party and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi weren’t hesitant to throw Ilhan under the bus. Keep in mind, everyone was seemingly cheering for her a couple months earlier because she’s a Somali refugee of Muslim faith who made it all the way to Washington, D.C.

But I feel like her identity is exactly why she was made to apologize. If you ask me, pointing out that a group lobbying is indeed a lobbying group isn’t discriminatory to a race or religion. In the past, she has been critical of the lobbying groups regarding the kingdom of Saudi Arabia; is this considered Islamophobic, even though she is Muslim? Again, I don’t consider it hateful.

So, it frustrates me when both Democrats and Republicans have sharply criticized her comments, while some GOP reps and the chief executive of the land himself get away with saying things that are more hateful and discriminatory.

In addition, it was kind of a slap in the face to the establishment – on both sides – to come to the vague “disciplinary” resolution they settled on. A good portion of the Democrats came out in defense of Omar, including many Jewish people, for the same reason I stated. This was a weeklong decision-making process that ultimately came to nothing, and since the resolution agreed to go after Islamophobic remarks, it was Ilhan who had the last laugh. Many people on the right-wing side of politics pointed to her faith as the reason she believed in anti-Semitism, going to the extent of criticizing her for wearing a hijab. Wouldn’t this be Islamophobic by our new standards now?

So, now we’re at a standstill on this political dueling match between the old and the new. I see it as not only a clash of generations, but, ironically, a clash of identity. It didn’t take long for House representatives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib to come to Ilhan Omar’s defense, because as marginalized people coming from the same wing of politics, they’re willing to stick up for each other unapologetically.

That’s the real resolution I got from this: People like Ilhan Omar, who come from a unique background, shouldn’t be blamed mainly for their identity. Believe it or not, hate goes both ways, and that’s why she has the upper hand after this ‘resolution’.