 JULY 16 • 2020 | 17

that people need to realize before it’
s too late. 
We need to continue to speak up. I watch 
IfNotNow use their faith to get out there and 
say, “
As a Jew, I will not stay silent.
” That is 
inspiring and moving to watch.

We have been doing a yearlong Anti-
Semitism Project, where we try to figure 
out what hate and bigotry looks like in the 
year 2020. How do you define a term like 
anti-Semitism? And in what ways do you 
see it linked to other forms of bigotry that 
are prominent today?
An African American Baptist pastor told 
me, “We’
re not a country that’
s divided; we’
re 
disconnected.
” 
I was at a mosque in Flint and this young 
Muslim sister got up and said, “Rashida, I 
don’
t understand. Why isn’
t anybody saying 
anything about what he (Trump) is saying 
about Muslims?” Trump was still a candidate 
at the time. And I said, “Sis, what did you 

say when he said Mexicans were rapists?” 
There was just silence in the hall. And I 
said, “You can’
t wait until it’
s us. You have 
to understand any form of hate, all of it. It’
s 
about all of us.
”
I’
m in spaces sometimes [where] they 
don’
t believe it’
s that prominent. And I’
m 
like, “No, there is very much targeting of 
Jews.
”
White supremacy is really what brings 
us all together … When we talk about 
anti-Semitism, when we talk about 
anti-Blackness, anti-immigrant, it’
s all of us 
together fighting against the same people. 
Because when you open that curtain, it’
s the 
same folks coming after all of us.

You’
ve said you want to come from a place 
of love first and use that as the basis for dia-
logue. If that was your message, it does not 
seem to have reached the Jewish communi-
ty. A lot of big donors with Federation were 
so concerned they were trying to mount a 
campaign to get rid of you.
I spoke to Mark Bernstein a couple of days 
ago. He’
s a person who knew me before I 
became a congressmember. Early on, he 
said, “You know, I don’
t support the BDS 
movement.
” I said, “I know, Mark.
” But he 
goes, “But everything else you do, I love it 
all.
” I said, “Mark, I would never, ever sup-
port anything that would be hateful, but we 
need to do something about the racism, and 
you know it,
” and he’
s like, “Oh yeah.
” 
That’
s the one thing that brings us all 
together. We see the pain there, and it’
s not 
just Palestinians. It’
s also Israelis suffering. 
So many of the new Israeli citizens, Black 
Israelis, even those who came from Russia, 
are struggling. There should be complete 
freedom to speak up against that without 
being targeted as being anti-Jewish. 
I know it hasn’
t reached [everyone]. I will 
continue to try my best to move forward in 
a very thoughtful way and make sure that I 
don’
t say anything to make somebody feel 
like I think they’
re “less than” because of 
their faith. But I want to speak truth. When 
we stay silent here, we’
re oppressing their 
voice there. 

Have you ever heard from anyone on your 
staff or Jewish allies that something you’
ve 
said in the past has crossed the line or ven-
tured into anti-Semitic tropes?
I had a friend just email me and say, “Oh, I 
think you’
re anti-Semitic.
” And I was like, 
“You’
ve known me for years. Send me what 
you think, teach me. What did I say?” She 
never responded, never. I always ask and I 
always respond, especially if it’
s someone I’
ve 
known for years.

Do you think this criticism of you is coming 
from an honest place?
No, honestly, I think some of it is anti-Arab. 
It’
s anti-Palestinian. I know this because I 
watched my colleagues already. My mere 
existence created this tension of, “She 
must be this way. This is who she is. This 
is how all Palestinians are.
” In Southwest 
Detroit, I’
m Rashida. In Palestine, I’
m “[the] 
American girl.
” In Congress, I instantly was 
“the Palestinian.
” Before I even opened my 
mouth, as soon as I won, it was just complete 
attack. And it was anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab 
movement. Not as much Muslim. The white 
supremacists, those folks came after. 

Do you have any final thoughts to share for 
our readers, for the Jewish community in 
Detroit?
I think one solid, strong advocate you’
re 
going to have against the white suprema-
cist in the White House is me. And when 
(Trump) speaks the way he does about 
Muslims, immigrants, Jews, understand that. 
What I see is all of us coming together and 
pushing against that. It is my absolute honor 
to be the person to say, “Enough, you will 
not speak with this hate agenda. You will 
not hurt my Jewish neighbors. You will not 
oppress them with your words, your policies, 
your tropes.
” 
Also, one thing you will always get from 
me is full honesty. I don’
t have any hidden 
agenda except to love and to raise the bar 
of what you expect in your member of 
Congress. You will always get somebody that 
will never back down and will never sell you 
out. 

“You can’t wait until it’s us.
You have to understand any form of hate,
all of it. It’s about all of us.”

— REP
. RASHIDA TLAIB

