Speeches at graduation used to be nonpartisan, uplifting, generalized addresses to encourage optimism within graduates, whether it was at the high school or college level. But a northern Virginia school board member chose to politicize her commencement speech at Justice High School.
Abrar Omeish, the Fairfax County Public School’s only Muslim board member, blasted capitalism and praised victimhood in her June 7 speech. She switched between Arabic, English, and Spanish in her speech, referring to overcoming personal and academic obstacles. Then, Omeish went all-in on social justice rhetoric, “”You understand that social justice is only political for those that can afford to ignore it.” She added, “You understand that ‘neutral’ is another word for complicit. And you have made a choice to take a stand.”
Omeish listed many liberal and leftist issues which allegedly plague American democracy and said that graduates’ future leadership will be needed to combat these perceived ills. “”Our world is overwhelmed with need,” she said. “We struggle with human greed, racism, extreme versions of individualism and capitalism, white supremacy, growing wealth gaps, disease, climate crisis, extreme poverty amidst luxury and waste right next door. And the list goes on,” she claimed. The school board member said that as long as the graduates cling to “your truth,” their actions “will leave you on the right side of history.”
In other words, one’s subjective perception of reality regardless of facts or science is one’s “truth.”
It is ironic that the Left claims that the “right side of history” solely resides within their ideological sphere. But, as the American public has seen with the emergence of critical race theory, the Left’s version of history is flawed, narrative-driven, and emphasizes victimhood.
Fox News reported that Omeish’s father, Esam, was the leader of the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center where two 9/11 hijackers once attended. The news outlet pointed out radical imam Anwar al-Awklaki and the 2009 Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Hasan, attended the center at some point in time.
On Omeish’s personal website, she calls herself “The People’s Advocate.”
As background, Justice High School was renamed in 2017 from J.E.B. Stuart High School, which was the name of a prominent Confederate cavalry general in the U.S. Civil War. The Fairfax County school system is located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
