Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said she was “really afraid of my fellow Americans” after the Islamist terror attack on the twin towers on 9/11.
Tlaib described how she felt after the terror attacks:
“I was probably my second year in law school when 9/11 happened. And I was—I was really terrified of what was going to happen to my husband, who’s only a green card holder at the time,” she said, “I immediately called my brothers and told them to be very careful who you hang out with, telling my sisters, you know, just be real careful out there, and being really afraid of my fellow Americans. It really pushed me to be more involved, and I got really curious and really angry. And I think that combination got me, you know, in front of a number of issues in the city of Detroit.”
“[People] do that all the time, especially women of color, they take our words out of context because they’re afraid because we speak truth, we speak truth to power. This is just pure racist act,” said Tlaib.
“My sister, Ilhan Omar, what she was talking about, was uplifting people by supporting their civil liberties and civil rights,” she added. “She has always, always condemned any strategy, especially of a person directly impacted by a refugee herself.”
Tlaib said that the backlash made her very angry.
