Read on Twitter
LET'S TALK ABOUT WHITENESS FOR A HOT SECOND
This morning Rudy Guiliani retweeted this photo of a Somali woman adjusting her rifle. The woman bears a striking resemblance to current Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
This morning Rudy Guiliani retweeted this photo of a Somali woman adjusting her rifle. The woman bears a striking resemblance to current Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
The resemblance is so striking, in fact, that Guilani asked to see the context of the picture, implying that he believed it WAS Omar. That's something his followers immediately ran with.
This has been spread so much that this is what happens when you reverse image search on Google:
But, obviously, there are a few things wrong here:
First, and largest: that's not Omar. That's an anonymous Somali woman in 1978, a full four years before Omar was born.
Beyond that:Omar was 13 when she moved to the US as a refugee.
First, and largest: that's not Omar. That's an anonymous Somali woman in 1978, a full four years before Omar was born.
Beyond that:Omar was 13 when she moved to the US as a refugee.
But even further: Al Qaeda formed in Pakistan a full ten years after this photo was taken, and didn't have a presence in Somalia until 1992 - at which point Omar was already in Dadaab refugee camp with her family, fleeing the war.
So unless Rep Omar is a time traveler, this photo cannot be and is not her.
But that hasn't stopped the right wing from using it as PROOF that she's a terrorist.
And this is where whiteness comes in.
But that hasn't stopped the right wing from using it as PROOF that she's a terrorist.
And this is where whiteness comes in.
Because a photo of a politician with a gun is literally nothing new. Here's JFK, W., and Rand Paul.
Here's Churchill, for good measure.
No one assumes these men are terrorists, and I think you and I both know the reason why.
But suddenly a Muslim woman has a gun and she wants to take down America from the inside.
But suddenly a Muslim woman has a gun and she wants to take down America from the inside.
Never mind that owning a gun is, according to some, the most American thing you can do.
it's the most American thing white people can do, apparently.
it's the most American thing white people can do, apparently.
We know that gun ownership in America really means protecting the rights of white men to own guns, from the complete silence from the gun lobby on Philando Castille's murder to the introduction of gun restrictions once the Black Panthers starting monitoring police.
And this is just another example to toss on the pile.
I guarantee if I wanted to dedicate my morning to looking, I could find photos of current white male politicians holding their guns in exactly the same pose.
But Omar isn't white, so none of that matters.
I guarantee if I wanted to dedicate my morning to looking, I could find photos of current white male politicians holding their guns in exactly the same pose.
But Omar isn't white, so none of that matters.
Learn to watch whiteness at work and suddenly a lot of things make sense.
