Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Israel, and what her district wants
| Detroit, MI.
To J. Thomas, soul food means eating what you want, when you want it. His restaurant in northwest Detroit, J鈥檚 Cafe Soul Food, specializes in soul food breakfast, which means catfish or pork chop entrees with eggs, grits, and toast.听
Mr. Thomas hasn鈥檛 changed his menu during the 36 years he鈥檚 been in business, which he sees as proof of his success. The same thing could be said for politics, adds Mr. Thomas: Politicians need to know their jobs and do them well.
鈥淲hy would I start trying to offer Chinese food?鈥� says Mr. Thomas, throwing his hands up in the air with a laugh. 鈥淪tay in your lane.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Members of Congress can be both national and local politicians. Those roles don't always coincide.
One local politician in particular should perhaps stay in her lane and focus on the basics, according to J鈥檚 Cafe diners. That鈥檚 Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who was elected in 2018 to represent a slice of greater Detroit, including the stretch of Grand River Avenue on which J鈥檚 sits.
Beginning with her inauguration night, Representative Tlaib has had far more national attention than is typical for a freshman member of Congress. Her membership in the self-named聽 鈥渟quad,鈥� a group of four first-term, progressive, minority congresswomen, has made Ms. Tlaib a target of President Donald Trump and some of his supporters, and a beacon of hope for some of his opponents.
Her latest burst of widespread media coverage came on Thursday, when Israel, at President Trump鈥檚 urging, barred Ms. Tlaib and fellow squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from visiting the country. Both women have been outspoken in support of the Palestinians and the boycott-Israel movement.
Ms. Tlaib later spurned an Israeli offer to allow her to visit her grandmother in the West Bank if she agreed in writing to not promote the Israeli boycott during her trip.
Her outspokenness has made her a hero in the pro-Palestinian movement. But at home in Detroit, almost halfway through the congresswoman鈥檚 first term, the response to Ms. Tlaib鈥檚 fame is more nuanced than the national reaction.
Many constituents are proud of the work she is doing in Washington. Others don鈥檛 know who Ms. Tlaib is. Some, including diners at J鈥檚 Cafe, think her priorities are off. They say Rep. Rashida Tlaib is trying to expand the menu without mastering the basics. She鈥檚 trying to cook kung pao chicken, say the men at J鈥檚, but she doesn鈥檛 know how to cook grits.听
鈥淚 wish she was talking about the district she was elected to represent,鈥� says Booker Fullilove, a retired police officer who comes to J鈥檚 every morning for an ice tea. 鈥淧overty, crime, bringing money to Detroit: If you represent the 13th district, that鈥檚 what you should be thinking about.鈥澛�
Symbolism and service
As one of the first Muslim women to be elected to the U.S. Congress, Ms. Tlaib has been balancing between symbolism and service since before her general election, as the Monitor reported last November.
She has long been outspoken about her heritage (a grandmother lives in the West Bank) and political victory has not changed her. At her campaign events Arabic songs thump alongside hip-hop. She has a shirt that says 鈥淯napologetically Muslim.鈥�
Her support of the boycott-Israel movement, designed to pressure Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, among other things, has infuriated the Israeli government and its U.S. supporters. On Thursday, after Israel blocked Ms. Tlaib from visiting, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman said in a statement that the boycott effort is 鈥渆conomic warfare鈥� and Israel has 鈥渆very right to protect its borders鈥� against boycott proponents.
Yet during her short tenure in Congress, Ms. Tlaib has also that is the closest Congress has seen to a universal basic income. Earlier this week she penned an Op-Ed on how to .听
鈥淪he does a lot. She鈥檚 helping the homeless, the parks,鈥� says Eric Crump, an aide at Detroit鈥檚 Western International High School, as he waits to get his hair cut at Kut-Em Up Hair and Nails Salon on Detroit鈥檚 Greenfield Road.
If Ms. Tlaib is visible at the national level that is both good and inevitable, Mr. Crump says.
鈥淩ight now everyone is talking about national stuff and Trump, so she doesn鈥檛 have a choice,鈥� says Mr. Crump. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a nice lady. She鈥檚 for the people.鈥澛�
Comparatively vulnerable
Ms. Tlaib鈥檚 initial 2018 electoral victory in Michigan鈥檚 13th Congressional District was not exactly a resounding win.
The seat is reliably Democratic, meaning the Democratic primary is usually far more competitive than the general election. On August 7, 2018, then-candidate Ms. Tlaib won the primary with only 31% of the vote.听
Some pundits partially attribute Ms. Tlaib鈥檚 narrow win to the crowded race: There were five other candidates, four of them black. And in a district that is , the large field of black candidates likely split a block of African American voters. Brenda Jones, City Council president for Detroit, came in second, losing to Ms. Tlaib by only 900 votes.
Comparatively, the other squad members, , , and , won their Democratic primaries by larger margins.
And while all four members of the squad are , most of them, particularly Representative Ocasio-Cortez, are incredibly popular in their districts.
Of the four, Ms. Tlaib is considered the . Political rumors are swirling that Ms. Jones will challenge Representative Tlaib for the seat again next year.
There are reasons to believe such a race could be competitive. In a separate special election to fill the remaining six weeks of former Rep. John Conyers term following his 2017 resignation from the 13th District seat, held concurrently with the multicandidate Democratic primary, Ms. Jones and Ms. Tlaib faced off in a direct one-on-one match-up. Ms. Jones won that contest by some 1,650 votes.
Solidifying her position?
But there are also indications Ms. Tlaib is solidifying her local position. A Targyt Insight/MIRS News poll in late July put her favorability rating with 13th District Democrats at almost 70%. In a theoretical match-up between Ms. Jones and Ms. Tlaib, the poll had the congresswoman ahead by .听
Keith Williams, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, says that Ms. Tlaib has done a good job of showing up in the district.
Her term was a little 鈥渞ocky and chaotic,鈥� in the beginning, says Mr. Williams, and she said some things she shouldn鈥檛 have said. But he believes she鈥檚 starting to find her political legs.听
鈥淚 think she cares about the district,鈥� says Mr. Williams. 鈥淏ut once this stuff with Trump passes, I want her to focus more on small African American businesses, healthcare, education. The things that people in her district need.鈥澛�
Leaving J鈥檚 Cafe on his way to work, Kevin Quinn, a diesel mechanic, overhears Mr. Thomas and Mr. Fullilove and chimes in. He says he has questions for Ms. Tlaib, and problems that need to be fixed. He sees a lot of families foreclosing on their homes and getting kicked out, only for the houses to be occupied by squatters and then demolished. If Ms. Tlaib came to J鈥檚 Cafe, or anywhere nearby, he鈥檇 talk to her about that.
鈥淚 like how Trump doesn鈥檛 like her, but she doesn鈥檛 have any town hall meetings or anything,鈥� says Mr. Quinn. 鈥淓ven the governor does that.鈥澛�
But, he adds, it鈥檚 not too late for Ms. Tlaib to win his vote in 2020.
鈥淪he can turn it around,鈥� says Mr. Quinn. 鈥淏eing against Trump, she鈥檚 got a chance. But she鈥檚 really got to get out here and sell herself and meet the people. She鈥檚 got to do both.鈥澛�
