I’ve been thinking about the comments made by Michelle Obama yesterday:
“Let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m proud of my country…I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment…” (comment @ 0:14)
And for those of you stuck on the word “really” (which isn’t a good defense anyway, since the word “really” in this case seems to mean “actually” as opposed to “very” and if you look at the context and the entire speech Ms. Obama says things like “ahhh” and “um” and “y’know” and “really” numerous times, sort of as nervous interjections) you will see that there are 2 different speeches. One where Ms. Obama didn’t say “really” and the one that followed where somebody obviously corrected her:
It’s been about 24 hours since these comments became the lead story around the globe and as they’ve sunk in a little deeper, they trouble me more and more. Let’s go beyond the Obama surrogates who say, “She didn’t mean that she’s never been proud of America, only that she’s more proud now b/c of voter participation, etc., etc.,” and the Obama opponents who suggest that this isn’t really such a big deal because it’s not the candidate’s thoughts, but those of his wife.
These comments do matter and I’ll tell you why.
What has differentiated the Obama campaign from those of previous Black presidential hopefuls is that the premise of his campaign hasn’t been the wrongs that Black America has suffered at the hands of White America, but a message of hope and optimism, a belief that there is an American dream there for the taking for all who want it and that Barack is living proof of it. Now we begin to see that perhaps there isn’t as much space between the thinking of the Obamas and Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.
It troubles me greatly that Ms. Obama harbors these feelings despite having reached such high levels of success, by any definition, in all aspects of her life. Professionally, personally, and in her family life, Michelle Obama is living the American Dream.
A graduate of Harvard and Princeton, Michelle has gone on to become a hospital executive ($200,000+ a year salary) and is reported to be currently pulling down $311,000 a year as a lawyer at one of America’s most prestigious firms. She has said that she did not make it in to these Ivy League institutions based on her grades. This means that somebody believed in her, took a chance on her–was she not “really proud” of her country in that moment?
Are these achievements the cause of her “frustration” and “disappointment?”
She met her husband when he interned at the law firm she worked at. Assigned to mentor him, she eventually acquiesced to his requests for a date and ultimately fell in love with him. She witnessed Barack’s improbable rise–born in poverty, raised by a single mother–from summer intern at her law firm, to State Senator, to keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, to United States Senator. Still, none of those victorious achievements were cause for pride in her country?
Are these testaments to the possibility that lies in front of all of us the reason Ms. Obama finds herself “desperate” for a new direction for her country?
It’s confusing, because Michelle Obama sees an America where there’s little hope on one hand, yet she recoils at the perception that the success her and Barack have enjoyed is the exception. In May of 2007, she told Good Morning America’s Diane Sawyer:
“…In the media we see snippets of our community and distortions of our community so the world has this perspective that somehow Barack and Michelle Obama are different and we’re unique, but we’re not you just haven’t see us before.”
Still, some of her comments on the campaign trail betray a much different take on things:
”We have this window, where maybe we’re just sick and tired of the way things are.” (comment @ 1:33)
So which is it? Are we “sick and tired of the way things are?” Or is the Obamas success nothing out of the ordinary?
While her husband campaigns on the promise of hope and change, implicitly suggesting a lack of hope and unacceptable current state of affairs, Ms. Obama admitted to CNN’s Soledad O’brien that individuals are responsible for their lot in life by virtue of the decisions and choices they make, saying:
“My view of career is that I can always have whatever career I want; that’s why I made these choices and worked hard and got my education.” (comment @ 5:22)
Most of us, of all political stripes, are extremely proud of the progress we’ve made in this country. We find great satisfaction when we see a Black man thisclose to the most powerful job in the world.
At least that man’s wife finds that to finally be a reason to be proud of her country…
