Sunday, May 10, 2015

"Michelle Obama Lets Loose on Race in Graduation Speech"

"The road ahead is not going to be easy... It never is, especially for folks like you and me."
"As potentially the first African-American first lady, I was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations, conversations sometimes rooted in the fears and misperceptions of others," she told the class of 2015. "Was I too loud or too emasculating? Or was I too soft? Too much of a mom and not enough of a career woman?"...

"Then there was the first time I was on a magazine cover," Obama told the graduates at the historically black Alabama college. "It was a cartoon drawing of me with a huge afro and a machine gun. Now, yeah, it was satire, but if I'm really being honest, it knocked me back a bit. It made me wonder 'just how are people seeing me?'"...

"We've both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives. The folks who crossed the street in fear of their safety, the clerks who kept a close eye on us in all those department stores. The people at formal events who assumed we were the help," Obama said. "And those who have questioned our intelligence, our honesty, even our love of this country, and I know that these little indignities are obviously nothing compared to what folks across the country are dealing with every single day. Those nagging worries about whether you're going to get stopped or pulled over for absolutely no reason. The fear that your job application will be overlooked because of the way your name sounds." (video at the link)

15 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How inspiring and uplifting.

/

ricpic said...

Goddamned race agitator.

chickelit said...

She's offended by cartoons? Who knew?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Amen to that, Lem.

William said...

If she, as First Lady of the United States, cannot find any cause to express gratitude towards this country, then she should be ashamed of herself. There are many, many people in this country who have had a bumpier ride to a worse destination than she......The President of Liberia was a descendent of African American slaves. He was overthrown and paraded naked through the streets of Monrovia. Then he was publicly executed along with hundreds of his supporters. The man, Samuel Doe, who led the coup against him also came to a bad end. He was tortured to death. The torture was videotaped. Doe was made to eat parts of his own body. The man who ordered the torture and was shown in the tape watching the torture now sits in the Liberian Senate. I can't recall any African Ametican speaking out in favor of the African American elite in Liberia who were murdered, nor was much outrage directed against Samuel Doe and his successor Charles Taylor.......There are worse fates than being eyeballed suspiciously while shopping.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

A graduation speech, while hardly ever remembered, is not supposed to be an opportunity to address grievances. Is supposed to be inspiring.

KCFleming said...

Nobody knows the trouble she's seen
Nobody knows her sorrow.

Sometimes she's up and sometimes she's down
Oh, yes lord
You know sometimes almost to the ground

If you get there before she does
Oh, oh yes lord
Don't forget to tell all her friends she's comin' too

I'm Full of Soup said...

BTW, thank you Haz for your tip that the "I'm not a Robot" thingamajig [can I use that word in a post about Michelle Obama?] does not work and can be bypassed all the time .

Chip Ahoy said...

*In the voice of Euell Gibbons* with slobbery sibilants.

Hello, my name is Michelle Obama, the author of six books on critical race theory. My first book is Michelle Obama and Race. My second book is Race and Michelle Obama. My third book is titled, Race and Obama Michelle. My fourth book is titled Obama Michelle and Race. And my fifth book is And Race Michelle Obama. My sixth books Is And Race Obama Michelle.

I would like to speak to you today on the subject of race struggle in America in this early twenty-first century. You got it bad, Bitches, real real bad. You need us to keep the man off your backs. That's all I got. Keepin' it real yo. Peace out. *pose*, *mic drop*

edutcher said...

What is with this "folks" thing?

Which one of these two were raised in Alabama among the good ol' boys?

And her race has never cost here one thing, it's all that ever got her anywhere. If it weren't for her color, she'd be mimeoing finals in some high school.

For those who have forgotten, his broad was born in '64. she never saw a day's discrimination in her life.

Anonymous said...

Pomp and victim of circumstance

Methadras said...

Chip Ahoy said...

Keepin' it real yo. Peace out. *pose*, *mic drop*


That made me lol.

Amartel said...

The cartoon of Obama with the big afro and the machine gun was a New Yorker cover in 2008. It included King (then Prince) Putt wearing Muslim drag, both of them standing in the Oval with an American flag on fire in the fireplace and a picture of bin laden on the wall. Obviously, the cartoon was intended to support the Obamas and mock people questioning the Obamas' authenticity.

Now, of course, its fodder for Michelle's neverending grievances.

Amartel said...

If she really wanted to address racial inequity, why does she talk about herself so much? It just detracts from the message. She's set for life now, and, honestly, her life up to this point has been one of luxury. Her harping about her personal difficulties just gives fodder to people who correctly question her message. Like her husband, she can't actually relate to anything she hasn't experienced herself so she can't help but bring her own experience to the table as an example.

chickelit said...

edutcher said...
What is with this "folks" thing?

One Folk, One Rich, One Furor