A work colleague of mine went on a rant about how racist Omar was. They were a subordinate and I didn't want to put them down in front of other staff, but I really wanted to ask them why they had never been as upset about debatably racist words before. Obviously the inference was going to be that Omar's race and gender were playing a huge part in why they were so angry and animated about it.
He was also very angry that the democrats 'didn't just condemn anti-Semitism' and I pointed out that the GOP had sort of forced the islamophobia portion by being Islamophobic to Omar while this controversy was happening, kind of making it impossible for the Dems to turn a complete blind eye to the blatant islamophobia and just criticize anti Semitism. Because they'd have been rightly slammed for only condemning ONE of those, and there was no question that islamophobia had been directed at Omar.
But there was no talking him down.
I lived in Longsight in Greater Manchester in the UK for about four years. I miss it dearly. I always visit when I got back to the UK. There, I would see women wearing hijabs almost every time I left the house. They were my neighbors. When I see someone who looks like Omar, it actually makes me think of a home I still miss.
I understand why someone who has grown up in Massachusetts would jump to other conclusions. It's still not defensible though.
