What Michelle Means to Us

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  • Posted By: Theater Diva @ 11/24/2008 12:18:36 PM

    I am genuinely curious. Was tthere a similar confab with the girls when Condi Rice was first named Security Advisor and then Secretary of State? Or are you only "black enough" if you are a Democrat?

    • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 11/24/2008 12:25:24 PM

      Since when is the secretary of state the first lady? Please re-read the title and subtitle of the article.

  • Posted By: matpauhar @ 11/24/2008 7:06:02 AM

    Wow....FatKat66 is one frightening individual!

    • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 11/24/2008 11:36:37 AM

      No, the Klan stopped being scary years ago. They are now just bitter, marginalized people who don't count.

  • Posted By: jman5 @ 11/23/2008 8:09:46 PM

    maybe we should all start listening to Rush. He has this issue pegged!

    • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 11/24/2008 11:34:40 AM

      Pretty much everyone is laughing at you now. Good job!

  • Posted By: iaintpeople @ 11/24/2008 10:51:57 AM

    Funny thing about this article... it reads like something from the 80s! As a Gen O kid, I gotta tell ya -- my friends and I don't even SPEAK or THINK in those terms of facial or racial features. It's so sad and so weird to think there are parts of this country still dividing and separating themselves and others based on a coloring of the skin -- THAT'S HILARIOUS! You ever seen a Puerto Rican Jew or an Italian Nigerian? I went to school with 6 of them! Uhm... it's 2008 and maybe I'm lucky cause I live in Manhattan and really, we're just fighting culture wars now -- But, seriously -- GROW UP YUPPIES, BUPPIES, GUPPIES & GEN X'ers! We've got a planet to save, so go fight about your pointy noses or hippy silouettes on some other planet!

    • Posted By: hrob27 @ 11/24/2008 11:09:54 AM

      I feel where you're coming from, to a point. But you have to understand that the past does not always resolve itself so easily or as soon as we would like it to. That applies to EVERY generation. While younger people do have the advantage of growing up in a multi-cultural society, if it were not for the older folks who went out there to make that possibility a reality for you, you wouldn't be able to make such claims. I side with the kids too, but you still have to respect the old school. You also have to accept the fact that racial differences still exist, even in New York City. The planet will be saved, and eventually the races will reconcile, but it won't happen overnight. Have patience, padawan.

    • Posted By: Repubssuck @ 11/24/2008 11:01:31 AM

      Good Post! I was even luckier. I was born in and lived in the district of Columbia until i was 25. Topics like this are not a concern. In Florida, where i now live, there's still a little work to be done. I will say, that Florida took a giant step foward November 4, 2008.

  • Posted By: as1624a @ 11/24/2008 9:55:00 AM

    Great article. The light skinned vs. dark skinned legacy is one that still stains our culture to this day. As a woman of lighter complexion I too feel like Michelle is real - and looks like one of us. I think all women suffer from unattainable or negative streotypes regardless of race. But Michelle's appeal extends beyond her skin color, which is beautiful, and goes to the heart of her just being a down to earth career mom.
    Allison, thanks for giving us a voice.

    • Posted By: Repubssuck @ 11/24/2008 10:11:49 AM

      Nice post! A person would be lying if they said they didn't see the bias against dark skinned African-Americans. Most of the political Pundits and those appearing in Commericals are light skinned. Conversely TV sitcoms show no Bias. One could gleam from that fact, that Sponsors of shows aimed at a more racially diverse group think a light skinned African american is more likely to appeal to that demographic. As Bob dylan said "Times are a Changing". Before long it wil cease to be an issue.

  • Posted By: Repubssuck @ 11/24/2008 7:43:04 AM

    The Republican Party should do one of two thing. Rither condemn the Racist Group or embrace them. Pretending they aren't pandering for their votes makes them a laughing stock.

  • Posted By: matpauhar @ 11/24/2008 7:11:32 AM

    Wow....FatKat66....you are one frightening individual! The year is 2008. I know you would prefer to be living in 1858. Maybe all "the blacks" would better know their place. To know that there are people like you in America exhibits a lack of love of country. To suggest Micehelle Obama is not patriotic, not intelligent, and has no class is ridiculous. Having someone like YOU judge her Princeton credentials or any of her other achievements is laughable.

  • Posted By: jamilah @ 11/24/2008 2:20:20 AM

    Well said! And while I understand the "soldiarity" of White women in their love for Michele, the feeling that Black people are getting from seeing the Obamas on top is one that no other people can truly understand. While the election of Barack was hardly the end of racism or even scraping the surface in terms of reparations, this is a feeling Black Americans deserved so badly for so long! We needed this moment. I get emotional seeing my fellow South Side native sister and I am so excited for the legacy she and her family will leave!

  • Posted By: twosherpas @ 11/24/2008 1:29:31 AM

    Just a note of solidarity, Allison - lots of us white women are excited about Michelle as well. We're looking forward to watching this hugely bright, elegant woman bring her fresh energy to the role of our First Lady. I think she has just as much of an opportunity to redefine what it is to be an American woman, as Barack has to redefine what it is to be an American citizen.

  • Posted By: becolby @ 11/22/2008 8:17:22 PM

    What a racist article. What Mrs. Obama needs to do is to embrace the American culture. The first predominately white culture to choose a negro to lead them. Drop the hyphenated American pretense and join the American culture. I hope now that Mrs. Obama is finally proud to be an American, that she does the title of First Lady justice and follows in the footsteps of her predecessors.

    • Posted By: 40YearR @ 11/22/2008 8:34:02 PM



      You seem to forget the refrains of not long ago that "you can't legislate love" and then grudgingly "separate but equal". I do not know how old you are, but you might recall how hard it was for blacks to build up some of the esteem that was being stomped out of them even then. I cannot imagine what it must be like to grow and live in a black skin. But I certainly can imagine that it must have scarred most, and it may take awhile after this historic election for blacks to truly feel equal and a real part of this society. I am a fundamental believer that we are individually responsible to overcome whatever obsticles there are, but I do not haughtily demand that now that there has been such an election, all racial and scars no longer exist. Give them some time. Our children will live in a better world because they will have lived in a world in which a mixed race person can become President, and that is a much different world than the world I saw, before we consider how many whites voted against him because of his color.

      A white 40 year republican

      • Posted By: curmudgeon47 @ 11/23/2008 2:18:02 AM

        Hear, hear!!!

        • Posted By: becolby @ 11/23/2008 11:08:18 PM

          So you also are not willing to consider how many Blacks voted for him because of his color? I dont give a damn what color his skin is, it is his ideology I disagree with. My point of the article is that EVERYONE in the US needs to be color blind, not just Whites. It is not OK for Blacks to be racist just because they were victims of racism. Is it OK for me to rob you because I was the victim of a robbery? Folks that live here need to embrace the American way and not keep separatist cultures alive. All other minorities in America have integrated once their children have embraced the American culture over the culture they left behind. Time to move on.

        • Posted By: Core values first @ 11/23/2008 2:27:28 PM

          Dear 40YearR;
          If Blacks don't feel equal now it's not because they haven't been given everything free for the last forty years. You see I grew up in the ninth ward in New Orleans one of the poorest areas in NO. Most of my black friends received grants, welfare, so moms could stay home when the kids came home unlike where my mother had a waitress job working 3 to 11 which meant we had to go to bed without the caring notoring moments only a mom can give. Because of affirmative action poor whites have been left behind.It's quite obvious you are among middle class and attended college with the help of your parents money. Of course if you were black you received grants that never had to be paid back. When it was time for me to go to college my parents were not in a position to pay for it. You guess it VietNam came a calling and after surving a door gunner's job I returned home to my $3.25 an hour job. I later was able to attend college with the support of my GI Bill which I earned by the time spent in the Army. Yes my black friends attended school and didn't share my experiences in Viet Nam. I also ask you to check the statistics of the over 58,000 that died because of the Viet Nam war and you will find that approx. 5000 blacks were killed and over 40,000 cau. You may also view New Orleans history's web site where you will find the blacks where too important to do manual labor therefore the Irish are the sole group that built New Orleans. I share these stories with you and those like you because Blacks have been given more than most. If you truly believe in equality then have this new adminstration eliminate affirmintive action.. Somehow I don't see that happening with all the sycophants Obama is apoointing to office they will continue to do what they are told to do. One last thing ask the Obama's who paid for their Harvard and Princeton's education.
          Now this didn't come from any media this is from my personal experiences. Jan C White

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 11/23/2008 9:21:52 AM

      A "negro"?

      Oh, yeah, she should embrace YOUR values Cletus. Clearly. LOL.

  • Posted By: In horror @ 11/23/2008 1:32:05 PM

    We have a lot to look forward to, the first lady (who is a successful lawyer with an Ivy league education) who can use her position as a bully-pulpet for blaming America for its racism and keeping people of color "down". This woman is a role model for no one and should be muzzled.

    • Posted By: SharonAustinTX @ 11/23/2008 10:49:30 PM

      Why are you so hateful? Do you feel better hating someone who has done nothing to harm you and has shown compassion to all Americans? What gives you joy? We are blessed to have the Obama and Biden families as role models for family values.

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 11/23/2008 3:31:49 PM

      So...You hate freedom of speech. Nice.

  • Posted By: giniajim @ 11/23/2008 12:17:43 PM

    uh, liberals at fault for the mess we're in? I don't think so. Bush 43 has been Pres for 7 1/2 years. He has had plenty of time to "fix" whatever Clinton did that was "wrong". And the Repugs have been the majority in Congress since 1994. So the Repugs have had the WH *and* Congress from 2001 through 2006. Sorry, they own the problems. All the Repugs cared about was making their rich friends richer and they hit the jackpot on that one.

    • Posted By: Vypurr @ 11/23/2008 12:57:01 PM

      President Bush and Sen. McCain were introducing legislation years ago to avert the incredible financial crisis we're in by reigning in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from making risky loans. Yes... Fan/Fred is the match that lit this powder keg. However liberal democrats Barney Frank and Chris Dodd continually blocked that legislation. Here's why:

      http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080924145932.aspx

      If you want to find fault and assign blame for this mess, at least start with the correct targets.

      • Posted By: 40YearR @ 11/23/2008 8:18:25 PM



        Hey Vypurr, Please check out my reply to this post at the Hirsch Tapping Hillary article. By way of friendly discourse only.

        • Posted By: Vypurr @ 11/23/2008 10:49:24 PM

          40Year,

          When I got back in town that article was gone and I couldn't remember the name of it.... thanks! I'm going out again but I book marked the page and will look at them when I get back.

          Thanks.

  • Posted By: rhardesty2 @ 11/23/2008 3:22:14 PM

    Why don't we leave Michelle alone and let her raise her lovely daughters? The Constitution says nothing about the role of "first spouse," and so the role is what the occupant makes of it. We have had wonderful "first ladies," from Dolly Madison to Eleanor Roosevelt to Jaqueline and Lady Bird to Barbara and Laura Bush to Hillary Clinton, all of whom defined the role differently. In the current situation, the signs so far seem to me very good. During the long campaign, while making a few missteps (well, according to the pundits), Ms. Obama was front and center and showed herself time and again to be educated, articulate, thoughtful, humorous, poised, and supportive of her husband the candidate. Do we have the right to expect more? She is obviously not a "trophy" wife. Indeed, she has been highly successful in her own right. I agree with the author of the article that she is a good role model for African-American women, but I would add that she is a fine role model not just for all women but also for all Americans. Get thee too a college, young people! In America, you can (at least now) aspire to run for the highest office in the land, be taken seriously, and perhaps win. Michelle and her husband by their lives have made that statement to all of us, and that is a solid foundation upon which to build a new administration in Washington. Along with most Americans, I wish them well in their respective roles--neither of which will be easy, but both of which will redefine American democracy and culture. By the way, I'm white, if that matters.

    Ray E. Hardesty, M.A.
    McKinney, TX

    • Posted By: SharonAustinTX @ 11/23/2008 10:37:45 PM

      Thank you for your thoughtful comments. The election is over. We have a new President-elect and First Family. It shouldn't matter how you voted. Our country is in crises right now and all of us as Americans need to come together. I don't understand the hate some people have for another human being. My Mother taught me to always act in such a way that afterwards I am proud of myself. I'm optimistic that our new leaders will bring about the change we need for my children and grandchildren.

    • Posted By: Repubssuck @ 11/23/2008 4:24:30 PM

      Well said! It doesn't matter to me if you're White, I'm color-blind.

  • Posted By: 40YearR @ 11/23/2008 10:12:42 PM



    There are researchers out there, so I'd like someone more skillful than I to tell us whether there has ever been a better educated First Lady?

    If I may, if you want to express yourselves about how you feel blacks got too much or something cost or was denied to you, then please do 2 things:

    1. Start your own thread on that subject.

    2. Include in that discussion how whatever you have seen blacks get that they should not have, or abused those things, how you, personally, might see things if you knew nothing of your heritage because your lineage was broken and lost because someone bought them, bred themselves into them, took every human right and dignity away from them, hated and lynched them, and less than 50 years ago still fought with rage and murder to keep them from riding on buses, going to school, voting.

    Please count in your own head how many posts, emails, statements you have heard in the last month, that involved deep, intense dislike (to be euphamistic) of blacks.

    If you feel justified in those feelings, then please consider to what extent and intensity you would feel....uncomfortable....being black.

    I will be happy to discuss both topics separately.

    A white 40 year republican

  • Posted By: joseph2582003 @ 11/23/2008 9:18:25 PM

    I truly enjoyed your well -written article about Michelle Obama. It was well worth the time of a 64 year old African American reader! Thanks for sharing your soul about what Michele Obama means to us. I issue thanks on behalf of my 86 year old mother and my four sisters. By the way, they all look like Michele. Indeed, they are proud of this fact. Posted by a 64 year old African American man.

  • Posted By: 40YearR @ 11/23/2008 8:35:00 PM



    Say what you will. I did wind up on the short end of aid due to affirmative action. Got past it, and resent no one. I also since have had the great good fortune to live among numerous cultures. I've felt racism as a white several places, and it stung like holy Hell, including in the land of Aloha. I can't imagine trying to act 'equal' in a black skin, nor can I imagine the scars. It is the hate of others that causes them.

    But here's my main point. Nowhere, ever, anywhere have I ever seen such two happy children who know they are loved so completely. Has anyone? They're certainly doing something magnificently right there.

    I'm rootin' for 'um, and know that I'll be better off for it too.

  • Posted By: Talulazoeapple @ 11/23/2008 8:24:28 PM

    Michelle is the BEST!!!!!!

  • Posted By: Perusing-through @ 11/23/2008 8:19:13 PM

    SORRY ALLISON SAMUELS, BUT THE ARTICLE WAS NOT WORTH MY TIME.

    Don't get me wrong, I truly admire Michelle Obama's accomplishments and the way she has done it. But while reading your three page article, I was hoping for something a bit meaty and a bit more intellectual than what you provided. Michelle Obama posses both meaty and intellectual issues to be discuss. I recently read better articles about the Obama???s from magazines sitting in the racks next to the grocery store check-out counters. With each turn of the page I was looking for substance and realized after reading your complete article that I wasted my time.

    Can you please hand the Obama journalism duties over to Jonathan Altars or Howard Fineman. Nothing personal, just don't want to waste my time again.

  • Posted By: usr105 @ 11/23/2008 8:16:38 PM

    Classy is not a description appropriate for Mrs. Obama.

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