Is Rashida Tlaib black?

In 2019, Rashida Tlaib became the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress. Along with fellow Democrat Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, she became one of the first two Muslim women in Congress. 

Tlaib took the congressional oath of office on January 3, 2019, swearing in on an English-language translation of the Quran.

The eldest of 14 children, Rashida Harbi was born on July 24, 1976, to working-class Palestinian immigrants in Detroit. Her mother was born in Beit Ur El Foka, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Her father was born in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

As the eldest, Tlaib played a role in raising her siblings while her parents worked.

Tlaib attended elementary school at Harms, Bennett Elementary, and Phoenix Academy. She graduated from Southwestern High School in Detroit in 1994.

Tlaib received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Wayne State University in 1998 and her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2004. She was admitted to the bar in 2007.

Tlaib won the Democratic primary with 64% of the vote over three challengers. She won the general election with 71% of the vote in a reconfigured district over Republican Steven Elliott and Gary Walkowicz of the Working Class Party.