Michelle Obama: ‘We could’ve never gotten away with’ what Trump does
The former first lady opens up about being Black in America and the White House
Michelle Obama is not biting her tongue about the Black experience on her new podcast, “The Michelle Obama Podcast.”
On the latest episode, the former first lady opens up about interacting with the police while Black and why she and former President Barack Obama would never be allowed to get away with things President Donald Trump has done in the White House.
According to The Hill, Obama said this about her experience in the White House.
Read More: Michelle Obama’s brother speaks on ‘terrifying’ experience being stopped by police
“When we were in the White House, we could’ve never gotten away with some of the stuff that’s going on now, not because of the public, but our community wouldn’t have accepted that. You worked, you did your best every day. You showed up,” said the former first lady in reference to the protests in support of George Floyd who died after now former police officer Derek Chauvin placed a knee on his neck.
The fact that there are people out there that treat us less than, when we’re working so hard to be better than, that’s where the pain comes from. That’s what these young people are so angry about… the notion that people are out there wondering about these protests,” Obama said, “it’s like, do you know how much it takes, that it takes to get up everyday, and be accused of being less than what you are?”
Read More: Michelle Obama says she had ‘own space’ in White House to ‘hide out in sweatpants’
Obama goes on to share a story about her brother, Craig Robinson, who sits as the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. She said when he was around 11 he was left “heartbroken” after an incident involving the police because they were “always taught that the police are your friends … and they’ll believe the truth.” But when the police accused him of stealing his own bike, they realized their belief was incorrect.
“What a lot of folks who are not in our position don’t understand is that this is such a way of life when it comes to interacting with the rest of the world,” said Obama. “It doesn’t matter who you are and what kind of values you have, nobody thinks about the fact that we all come from good families that are trying to teach values.”
She adds, “When you leave the safety of your home and go out into the street, where being Black is a crime in and of itself, we have all had to learn how to operate outside of our homes with a level of caution and fear, because you never know.”
Mrs. Obama says she knows her brother’s incident was not isolated because, “almost everybody” she knows has been involved in ”some kind of incident where they were just minding their own business but living Black, and got accused of something.”
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