In Defense of Michelle

So in a moment of honesty like when she stated that her husband, as a black man could be shot going to the store, Michelle Obama said that for the first time in her adult life she was proud of her country. Given that she's 44, not much older than I am I completely understand what she meant. She's been an adult since the early 1980's and any black person in the US knows what black folk have been through since then. So I know and understand what Michelle is talking about.

Mind you Michelle has "cleaned up" her statement because to not do so in the manner that she did would cost her husband the massive amount of white supporters that he has gotten by acting as if black folk barely exist and have come "90% of the way" to "freedom." Michelle's statement runs counter to the "no race" and "end of racism" rhetoric of the Obama campaign and of many of it's supporters. Indeed if you were of political age in the 80's you saw Howard Beach, Elenor Bumpers You saw Reaganomics, you saw the US support Apartheid South Africa. You saw the Crack Epidemic and it's revealed origins in the CIA. You saw a huge rise in blacks in prison on an unprecedented scale. Politically you saw Jesse Jackson robbed of his Vice-presidential candidacy in 1988 through the DNC. No the 80's was not a particularly good decade. So while many white folk will be beside themselves over Michelle's comments, many black people will understand completely.

This underscores the article that Glen Ford has written over at the Black Agenda Report where he discusses why Obama is "that type of black man." to white men who are increasingly voting for him (though I think something else is afoot). Michelle's comments and the reaction to them makes it clear that this election is about race, just not in the way that people think it to be. To be sure Michelle's comments will solidify her already strong support among black voters.

Now I'm not entirely sure how this will play out to the wider electorate, but I do know that should Obama be the nominee, expect advertisements to run with Michelle making her statement. I also expect the "si se puede" ad to be run too, though it depends on how immigration polls.

Technorati Tags: 2008 US Elections, Barak Obama, Michelle Obama