ArcaMax

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of House Democratic leadership, as well as numerous Republicans and Jewish leaders, wasted no time in rebuking Omar's remarks and calling on her to apologize for her use of what Pelosi called "anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel's supporters."

Omar immediately issued an "unequivocal" apology, saying, "Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes."

Good for her. I wish we would have such similarly swift regrets from President Donald Trump, who last weekend again mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, as "Pocahontas." Or Rep. Steve King, the Iowa Republican who, after years of offensive remarks about "white supremacy" and "white nationalism" was finally removed by Republicans from all House committee assignments, after Republicans lost their House majority.

Omar, a Somali-American and the first member of Congress to wear a hijab, knows about that deterioration in discourse. Looking at some of the tweets she has received, calling for her to be impeached, deported or worse, shows how far we need to go with bridging racial, ethnic and cultural gaps in this country.

But looking at what Gov. Northam has done in Virginia, redoubling his efforts to do a "listening tour" and other conversation starters around race and heritage since his job came under fire, points the way to a brighter future, if we work at it.

I can easily understand how Omar, a newcomer to national politics, can be tone-deaf to the sinister implications of criticism that steps over the line from honest Middle East policy debate to a repeating of, unfortunately, widespread and false anti-Semitic tropes.

For example, AIPAC, which rallies donors on behalf of pro-Israel candidates but doesn't make direct contributions to candidates, is far exceeded by evangelical Christians and other non-Jewish conservatives as major donors on behalf of Israel.

I have denounced bigotry and anti-Semitism, whether it comes from Trump's "Muslim ban" demagoguery or Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan. If Americans are going to overcome the legacy of our hate-infected past, we need to work together against those who would profit from tearing us apart.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)

(c) 2019 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.