Last week, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey survived a challenge from Omar Fateh and secured a third term. During his victory speech, Frey thanked the backbone of his campaign: Somali voters.
For a full minute, Frey addressed a gathered crowd of supporters in Somali. He named several regions of the war-torn wasteland by name and concluded, "This election means this is a moment for unity, where the entire Somali community can come together and say, 'This is our people. This is our city. We are united behind each other.'"
Not all Somalis were so thrilled. Congresswoman and brother-lover Ilhan Omar railed against countrymen she saw as disloyal to Fateh, arguing in a leaked video that Somalians who voted for Frey as mayor should be excommunicated.
"We need to get rid of these people," a translated video featuring Omar said. "We will never gain power and move forward as Somalians as long as these people live among us."
Some electoral analysts theorized ethnic tensions played a role in Frey's victory, as certain tribal groups refused to vote for Fateh over rivalries and hatreds held over from Somalia.
Indeed, one Somali website noted that "Ilhan Omar, who openly supported Omar Fateh, was backed largely by members of the Daarood clan, while Ahmed Hersi, who mobilized an energetic social media campaign, stood firmly behind Jacob Frey — drawing significant support from the Hawiye community."
Put simply, Fateh's status as a member of a certain ethnic group may have been enough to tip the election toward Frey amongst members of rival clans.
That a mayoral race for a major American city was decided by intertribal African squabbles should be highly concerning. A group of foreigners, more concerned with their home country than the one where they live, have taken such a predominant role in the makeup of an American metropole is even worse.
As radio host Gerry Calahan nicely quipped on X, "This is an American politician, raised in America, educated in America, ostensibly representing Americans, prostrating himself in front of a bunch of foreigners. Could be the most humiliating thing I've ever seen."
Humiliating is one thing, but given we know what happens when conflict from the third world is allowed to fester in the West, it can also be deadly.
One need only look to Europe. In Germany, Turks make up the largest ethnic minority group in the nation. Despite making up just 3 percent of the population, their impact is heavily felt in daily life. Several studies have demonstrated that Turks generally refuse to assimilate into the larger German culture. Like in Minneapolis, third-world conflicts can sometimes find their way to Western streets, as was the case with Hatun Sürücü. The 23-year-old woman was murdered by her brother in what police described as an honor killing after Sürücü refused to remain married to her cousin.
One imagines Ilhan Omar might not approve of Sürücü's decision!
Further to the east, Sweden has seen a massive rise in gang violence on ethnic lines. The Nordic home of IKEA has evolved, where frequent bombings, shootings, and gang homicides are now part of everyday life rather than exceptional events. Last January saw over 30 bombings throughout the country perpetrated by gangs with roots in Turkey, Syria, and Somalia. Several of the bombers don't speak Swedish and target other gangs run by rival tribal groups back home.
This is the future if the Third World conquers the First.
Europe's failures don't have to be ours. It is entirely possible to course-correct and ensure violent tribal groups don't become the basis for American politics. Democrats like Frey cynically used inter-clan hatreds to achieve political power. But that cannot become the norm here, or the ghettofication, whereby ethnic enclaves become fonts for political power at the expense of native citizens, will flourish.
Minneapolis is a warning about what happens when imported loyalties replace American civic culture. A nation allowing foreign clan politics to shape local elections is a nation drifting toward fragmentation, as Europe clearly demonstrates.
The choice is still ours. We can reinforce the civic culture that holds the country together, or we can watch our politics fracture under the weight of fights that were never ours to begin with.
It's Minneapolis, not Mogadishu.