MO: Being Black at a Blue-Light Special

You’d think we would be past it by now.

I mean France has never had a black president. Germany hasn’t had a black chancellor. Russia hasn’t elected anyone with African lineage that I’ve heard of.

All of these nations have a history of racial discrimination, and none have done anything remotely as demonstrable of attempting to heal its past as electing a leader of African decent.

Yet the United States not only has now twice elected a black president, but has a 50 year history of state and U.S. senators and representatives, mayors and governors. And we’re still the most “racist” industrial nation on earth.

How can this be?

Take Michelle Obama’s trip to Target for instance:

People Magazine:

The Obamas open up about raising their daughters, the impact of stereotypes, and what’s on the POTUS dance party playlist.

The protective bubble that comes with the presidency – the armored limo, the Secret Service detail, the White House – shields Barack and Michelle Obama from a lot of unpleasantness. But their encounters with racial prejudice aren’t as far in the past as one might expect. And they obviously still sting.

“I think people forget that we’ve lived in the White House for six years,” the first lady told PEOPLE, laughing wryly, along with her husband, at the assumption that the first family has been largely insulated from coming face-to-face with racism. …

“I tell this story – I mean, even as the first lady – during that wonderfully publicized trip I took to Target, not highly disguised, the only person who came up to me in the store was a woman who asked me to help her take something off a shelf. Because she didn’t see me as the first lady, she saw me as someone who could help her. Those kinds of things happen in life. So it isn’t anything new.” [read it if you must]

In this rare interview coup in which the Obamas open up about themselves, they go on to point out that they have both been on the receiving end of other racial slights.

For instance, before becoming president, Barack Obama had been mistaken for a valet and a waiter, because he was standing around in front of a restaurant and at a black tie dinner, respectively, looking like he had some time on his hands.

Insensitive, yes. But racist? Well, I don’t know. Barack has always struck me as a fellow who enjoys his free time.

But Mrs. Obama was already First Lady when the above-alleged racially insensitive infraction occurred.

So what was the real offense here?

Was it that this unidentified white woman saw BLACK and immediately assumed THE HELP?

Or was the real offense that she was insolent enough NOT TO RECOGNIZE First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama?

END THE HATE, PEOPLE

HT/Hot Air,

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