Rep. Ilhan Omar says America is a giant “system of oppression” needing an immediate “dismantling” far beyond current calls for criminal justice reform.
The Minnesota Democrat told constituents Tuesday that most national conversations about the death of George Floyd and the coronavirus pandemic fail to realize the size and scope of change she envisions.
“We can’t stop at criminal justice reform or policing reform,” she said during an outdoor press conference. “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, [and] in the air we breathe.”
Ms. Omar urged Americans that it was time to “guarantee homes for all” due to racial disparities in home ownership.
Similarly, she promoted the Green New Deal as a public policy necessity because “we know that environmental racism is real.”
The congresswoman ended her introductory remarks by making the case for razing linked “systems of oppression.”
“As long as our economy and political systems prioritize profit without considering who is profiting, who is being shut out, we will perpetuate this inequality. So we cannot stop at [the] criminal justice system. We must begin the work of dismantling the whole system of oppression wherever we find it.”
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