Rep. Omar Denounces U.S. Economic and Political Systems, Calls For ‘Dismantling the Whole System of Oppression’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) called Tuesday for “dismantling” what she described as “the whole system of oppression” in America, including the country’s ““economy and political systems.”

“We can’t stop at criminal justice reform or police reform,” Omar said at a news conference outside the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul. “We are not merely fighting to tear down the systems of oppression in the criminal justice system. We are fighting to tear down systems of oppression that exist in housing, in education, in health care, in employment, in the air we breathe.”

Noting the fact the fact that her father died as a result of complications stemming from the coronavirus, Omar said, “the mortality rate for Black Minnesotans [who contract the virus] … is twice as high as it is with other races.”

“I see the pain and the havoc it is wreaking on the black community in Minneapolis,” Omar added. “We must recognize that these systems of oppression are linked. As long as our economy and political systems prioritizes profit without considering who is profiting, who is being shut out, we will perpetuate this inequity. So we cannot stop at criminal justice system. We must begin the work of dismantling the whole system of oppression wherever we find it.”

Omar was speaking at a gathering of the Minnesota Legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous Caucus. The group was gathering to address a policing reform proposal from Gov. Tim Walz (D), who is convening legislators for a special session for the second time this year. George Floyd’s May 25 death in Omar’s Minneapolis district provoked weeks of protests around the world and chaos in Minneapolis in June, when the city’s Third Precinct police building was burned to the ground.

Omar, who came to the United States in 1995 as a Somali refugee, has represented Minneapolis in Congress since 2019.

Watch above via PBS.