Elected as a representative for Minnesota in Congress in 2017, Ilhan Omar has grown to be an eminent politician and given so many minorities a voice in the United States Congress. She has earned the title of the first Somali-American, the first naturalised citizen of African birth, and the first woman of colour to represent Minnesota. In a country still struggling to foster political equality, her election and policies have been a center of controversy, and she has to constantly defend herself and her story from prejudiced hate and discrimination. She is one of the few politicians that is inseparable from her story. Omar commented that hate for her is “anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-Black, sexist”. The intersectional oppression she has had to endure is no easy task.
The challenges that Omar has had to face in regards to misogyny and gender discrimination since her election into Congress have been hugely structural. When it was founded in 1789, Congress was not built for female involvement nor has it been adapted in the recent century when political equality has been on the rise. The US lacks a constitutional provision for a gender quota for candidates, placing the nation far behind other industrialised democracies. We can see this by looking at gender inequality in recent years. In 2019, women formed less than 24% of Congress, and as a result, Omar’s election was rendered even more groundbreaking. Running and winning against a well-funded and established Democrat (Antone Melton-Meaux) was record-setting in itself. Meaux had million-dollar funding and it was viewed as unlikely for a woman to win by such a large margin. Omar did this seamlessly breaking records for voter turnout and with millions of dollars less funding. Along with this platform came controversy and regular mischaracterisation by other male politicians. One particularly influential politician that comes to mind would be President Trump. The President described her earlier this year as “a horrible woman who hates our country.” As well as the undertones of xenophobia and islamophobia, Trump decided to align his accusations with her gender and assumed her immediate inferiority. Following this aggressive insult, Omar was forced to come to media outlets and condemn the President, putting her once again on the public stage for scrutiny.
As well as battling misogyny in her career, the more prominent response of her election has been Islamophobia and a surge in hate from anti-immigration supporters. After her family fled Somalia in 1991, due to a civil war, she took sanctuary in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years of her childhood, before chasing the ‘American Dream’ at 12 years old, in 1995. Despite the fact that she became a naturalised citizen in the 2000s in ways completely authorised and made legal by US legislations, her American nationality has been constantly questioned in a similar way that Obama was prior to his re-election. These allegations very obviously resonate with historical prejudice towards immigrants which is very difficult to overcome, and can only be erased leader-by-leader. Mass numbers of protesters have chanted at Omar throughout this year shouting “send her back” on behalf of Trump’s anti-immigrant initiatives. Omar’s responses have been consistently professional and contained, but in separate interviews she has frequently described the offense she takes as a target for American bigotry. One of her most powerful responses has been “I am America’s hope, and the president’s nightmare.”
Be that as it may, working as a politician against the authority of the most powerful man in America has not hindered Omar’s progress in Congress. She continues to bring Democratic policies to Minnesota and propose new bills and deals. Some policies where she has recently seen success include the Raise the Wage Act, the Green New Deal, and the Dream and Promise Act. All of these initiatives focus on reducing social and economic inequalities in the US, and her support has been essential for all these movements. She has used every personal attack made against her to contribute to her momentum as a figure of leadership and egalitarianism. Her constant resilience in a career built to work against her entire identity prove Ilhan Omar to be one of the best role models of the 21st century.
After winning both the 2018 election and winning the Democratic primaries in August this year, we can expect to see far more of Rep. Omar and her successes as she will continue to shatter boundaries and reduce inequalities embedded in American society.
