Such a proud day to be an American (1 Viewer)

[the moops]

Love love love love this

Hey, Ilhan’s dad here: 
Twenty three years ago, my family and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC. We were newly arrived refugees in this country, from a refugee camp in Kenya. I had heard about the promise of America, prosperity for all and hope for a better tomorrow. 
I could never have dreamed that twenty three years later I would return to the same airport with my daughter Ilhan by my side, the day before she is to be sworn in as the first Somali-American elected to the United States Congress.

You, of course, can imagine how emotional this is and why I am incredibly proud of her.

It’s an honor to have her represent me and our family is so humbled that Ilhan has the opportunity to serve in our democracy. I wish Ilhan's grandfather could be here to witness this historic moment. He will be here in spirit as Ilhan will place her hand on his Quran for the ceremonial swearing in.

Tomorrow, members of Ilhan's team will be covering the events of the day. We all hope you will follow along and share in our excitement for what the New Year will bring.

As Ilhan would say, forward together.

Nur Mohamed

 

[timschochet]

Love love love love this

Hey, Ilhan’s dad here: 
Twenty three years ago, my family and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC. We were newly arrived refugees in this country, from a refugee camp in Kenya. I had heard about the promise of America, prosperity for all and hope for a better tomorrow. 
I could never have dreamed that twenty three years later I would return to the same airport with my daughter Ilhan by my side, the day before she is to be sworn in as the first Somali-American elected to the United States Congress.

You, of course, can imagine how emotional this is and why I am incredibly proud of her.

It’s an honor to have her represent me and our family is so humbled that Ilhan has the opportunity to serve in our democracy. I wish Ilhan's grandfather could be here to witness this historic moment. He will be here in spirit as Ilhan will place her hand on his Quran for the ceremonial swearing in.

Tomorrow, members of Ilhan's team will be covering the events of the day. We all hope you will follow along and share in our excitement for what the New Year will bring.

As Ilhan would say, forward together.

Nur Mohamed

Thanks for posting this. I’m tearing up all over again. 

 

[Da Guru]

I didn't recall seeing anything to merit it being nuked. Most of the offending language was blocked by the language filter. Interesting that it seemed that the only calls for the thread to be taken down or that it was an inappropriate topic came from those on the right.

I agree...that thread had good potential and was entertaining. Was bummed this morning that is was gone.

 

[jon_mx]

I don’t feel degraded by knowing that my accomplishments are due to circumstances that I had no control over.  

What advantage did you receive which helped you succeed because you were white? 

 

[the moops]

What advantage did you receive which helped you succeed because you were white? 

I have only gotten arrested once in my life - as a 16 year old. If i was non-white, I am guessing that # would be more than 1

 

[wikkidpissah]

What celebrations are bothering you, specifically?

This thread and the entire "Well, we've broken the seal on Ethiopian dwarf trisexuals in Congress" office-party triviality. On the way to your difference or sameness being none of my business, more people getting in better is all i need know. The fight is tough enough without scorekeeping distractions, especially with the potential for that kind of factionality to double back on us.

 

[jon_mx]

I have only gotten arrested once in my life - as a 16 year old. If i was non-white, I am guessing that # would be more than 1 

Depends.  I would guess if you were Asian maybe not.  Somehow certain groups are able to outperform whites.  These groups include the likes of Indian, Turkish, Portuguese and even Nigerian Americans. 

 

[the moops]

Depends.  I would guess if you were Asian maybe not.  Somehow certain groups are able to outperform whites.  These groups include the likes of Indian, Turkish, Portuguese and even Nigerian Americans. 

Yea, those Nigerian Americans sure do got it good. Not as good as Kenyans though

 

[timschochet]

What advantage did you receive which helped you succeed because you were white? 

A better question is what advantages haven’t you received? The answer is very few. 

 

[squistion]

I’m not surprised that the Tlaib thread got shut down, it got kind of ugly there last night. But it’s disappointing nonetheless. It was centered around a news topic and raised a number of interesting and important issues: the role of civility in politics, the transformation of the Democratic Party, the treatment of Donald Trump vs previous presidents, etc. At least for a while there was plenty of intelligent discussion and debate. Too bad it devolved into something else. 

Yeah, it was a great thread because it touched on so many different issues. I think it would have been better to delete the inflammatory or out of line posts and issue a warning to get back on track to the original discussion.

Unfortunately, some of the mods here have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water. The first thread I started on the 2020 Presidential race was nuked by one of the mods after the Elizabeth Warren haters started in with the "Pocahontas" references and tasteless Native American jokes - and after they were called out for their racist remarks the thread disappeared. I often think the trolls engage in this behavior to hijack a thread and make it unreadable or to get it shut down.

 

[timschochet]

This thread and the entire "Well, we've broken the seal on Ethiopian dwarf trisexuals in Congress" office-party triviality. On the way to your difference or sameness being none of my business, more people getting in better is all i need know. The fight is tough enough without scorekeeping distractions, especially with the potential for that kind of factionality to double back on us.

I love you WP but you’re so wrong here. 

Diversity doesn’t create factionality. Anti-diversity creates factionality. 

 

[the moops]

Anyway - to not let jon derail the thread with his eventual whining...
 

I have met Ilhan on numerous occasions. She is ####### awesome and I am very happy for her. For all those that complain that it takes generations for immigrants to ingrain themselves in American culture, this is a direct example at how that notion is generally untrue. Nothing more American that getting Americans to elect you to represent them. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

I love you WP but you’re so wrong here. 

Diversity doesn’t create factionality. Anti-diversity creates factionality. 

i hate you because you're so right....

 

[timschochet]

Anyway - to not let jon derail the thread with his eventual whining...
 

I have met Ilhan on numerous occasions. She is ####### awesome and I am very happy for her. For all those that complain that it takes generations for immigrants to ingrain themselves in American culture, this is a direct example at how that notion is generally untrue. Nothing more American that getting Americans to elect you to represent them. 

I think you raise some great points here. 

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

What advantage did you receive which helped you succeed because you were white? 

How can I know what the hypothetical black fatguyinalittlecoat would have experienced?  Focusing on an individual level is impossible.  It seems to make more sense to look more broadly at the whole population.

 

[jon_mx]

A better question is what advantages haven’t you received? The answer is very few. 

Received no preferential treatment in admittance into school.  Received no preferential treatment for scholarship.  Received no preferential treatment for job placement or advancement.  I have no idea what white privilege is suppose to be.  I grew up in a home with a single mom who took whatever job she could from bus driver, to factory worker to unemployed.  How is that privileged?  My starting point was zero.  Better off than growing up in a ghetto or as some poor rural hillbilly.  But hardly anything I would label as privileged.  Hell, I was even shortly apprehended by police for dealing drugs before they realized it was mistaken identity. 

 

[urbanhack]

What advantage did you receive which helped you succeed because you were white? 

Oh boy

 

[timschochet]

Received no preferential treatment in admittance into school.  Received no preferential treatment for scholarship.  Received no preferential treatment for job placement or advancement.  I have no idea what white privilege is suppose to be.  I grew up in a home with a single mom who took whatever job she could from bus driver, to factory worker to unemployed.  How is that privileged?  My starting point was zero.  Better off than growing up in a ghetto or as some poor rural hillbilly.  But hardly anything I would label as privileged.  Hell, I was even shortly apprehended by police for dealing drugs before they realized it was mistaken identity. 

You have a ton of advantages not available to minorities that you don’t recognize. That’s not a surprise; most people don’t. 

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really

Stores and merchandise caters to you. When you shop, you’re not watched carefully by attendants to make sure you don’t steal anything. You’re not stopped by police on a continual basis, and when you are, you’re usually given the benefit of the doubt. You’re not told you’re a failure, and you don’t have to watch on national television as your ethnicity is blamed for making the nation dirtier. Etc. Etc. I could go on and on but the article I posted does it much better than I can. 

 

[jon_mx]

Anyway - to not let jon derail the thread with his eventual whining...
 

I have met Ilhan on numerous occasions. She is ####### awesome and I am very happy for her. For all those that complain that it takes generations for immigrants to ingrain themselves in American culture, this is a direct example at how that notion is generally untrue. Nothing more American that getting Americans to elect you to represent them. 

Nothing was even remotely whining.  But this is typical of the suckiness of this forum which dismisses any idea contrary to the group-think as whining.  The American dream is in fact available to everyone.

 

[timschochet]

Nothing was even remotely whining.  But this is typical of the suckiness of this forum which dismisses any idea contrary to the group-think as whining.  The American dream is in fact available to everyone.

I agree that your earlier posts weren’t whines. This one, however, certainly is. 

 

[jon_mx]

You have a ton of advantages not available to minorities that you don’t recognize. That’s not a surprise; most people don’t. 

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really

Stores and merchandise caters to you. When you shop, you’re not watched carefully by attendants to make sure you don’t steal anything. You’re not stopped by police on a continual basis, and when you are, you’re usually given the benefit of the doubt. You’re not told you’re a failure, and you don’t have to watch on national television as your ethnicity is blamed for making the nation dirtier. Etc. Etc. I could go on and on but the article I posted does it much better than I can.  

I am stopped by police quite often (a couple times a year), but that is probably because I tend to speed. 

 

[Henry Ford]

This thread and the entire "Well, we've broken the seal on Ethiopian dwarf trisexuals in Congress" office-party triviality. On the way to your difference or sameness being none of my business, more people getting in better is all i need know. The fight is tough enough without scorekeeping distractions, especially with the potential for that kind of factionality to double back on us.

So saying someone is the first is too much celebrating.  That’s what you’re referring to. 

 

[squistion]

I agree that your earlier posts weren’t whines. This one, however, certainly is. 

Some people have no sense of irony.

 

[wikkidpissah]

So saying someone is the first is too much celebrating.  That’s what you’re referring to. 

Ticking the boxes, yes. It's not who's coming in, it's how they did and what they do. They should celebrate, we should say, "Welcome. Let's go" or it's an office party.

 

[jon_mx]

Nice to see Troll 1, Troll 2 and Troll 3. 

 

[jon_mx]

I agree that your earlier posts weren’t whines. This one, however, certainly is. 

Pointing out crappy behavior is whining.  This is why this place will never stop sucking. 

 

[TobiasFunke]

Anyway - to not let jon derail the thread with his eventual whining...
 

I have met Ilhan on numerous occasions. She is ####### awesome and I am very happy for her. For all those that complain that it takes generations for immigrants to ingrain themselves in American culture, this is a direct example at how that notion is generally untrue. Nothing more American that getting Americans to elect you to represent them. 

Dem leadership seems to like her too.  She seems destined for big things.