Former First Lady Michelle Obama is trying to sell a book, so that means we’ve been seeing even more fawning media coverage of her than usual in recent days.
During an interview with actress Tracee Ellis Ross, Obama had an unfettered opportunity to share her disdain for White people, a topic she and her husband have publicly discussed on multiple prior occasions.
The Daily Caller provided an overview of her remarks:
She blamed white people for the “exhausting” beauty standards she felt she had to upkeep while she was in the spotlight. Reflecting on her childhood, she told Ellis black people need to know how to present themselves because “how you present can sometimes save your life.”
Obama said her exposure to “high end of Chicago” taught her a lesson. “And to access those places and not be accused of stealing, you realize very early on that you better let them hear you talk, or come in with the right Le Sac case, or else you would be watched,” the former first lady said.
“So I think I learned then that how you show up, especially when it comes to white folks looking at young black kids, that how you present can sometimes save your life,” she said.
Ross read an excerpt from Obama’s book aloud. “In a way, being first lady was just another professional experience where I had to conform to a white environment of appropriateness,” the former first lady wrote, according to Ross.
Obama then discussed the effort she put into keeping her natural hair concealed until she left the White House and eventually turned her attention to white people.