Ilhan Omar: Racism Fuels ‘American Power’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said on Capitol Hill Thursday that people should accept that American power comes from racism and that “our history is built on the oppression of black bodies.”

“From slavery to Jim Crow to redlining to mass incarceration to voter suppression, racism is part of the foundation of American power,” Omar said at an panel discussion she hosted focused on “racial justice.”

Omar began he remarks by quoting activist Angela Davis, who just happened to be among Time magazine’s 100 Women of the Year, published on Thursday.
“In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist,” Omar said. “We must be anti-racist.”