Michelle Obama is not Racist, Just Self-Centered

“Earlier in my college career, there was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the Black community I was somehow obligated to this community and would utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit this community first and foremost.”
Michelle Obama, Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community

Monica O’Brien of Twenty Set wrote a piece explaining that Michelle Obama, for a variety of understandable reasons, is now her motivation to vote for Barack. From the comments it seems many of her readers feel the same.

Monica says she is inspired by seeing a powerful woman in an influential role in the nation’s political affairs. While it is laudable that Mrs. Obama is a Princeton and Harvard graduate with considerable experience and skills, I don’t find her or her husband’s proposals for public policy particularly inspiring.

Michelle Obama has been accused of being a racist and an advocate of black separatism. I think those types of accusations are ridiculous, and detract from meaningful critique. I do think it’s clear however, if not from her Princeton thesis, (Part 1, which was originally supposed to be restricted until after the election), from her many public speeches that as an individual she is principally focused on the “black experience” and her own “blackness.” (Her words.) Her passion for understanding the black experience does not make her racist, but demonstrates commitment to honoring and revealing her unique culture, psyche, and individuality through a particular lens. I don’t have a problem with that. In fact, I feel I can relate to her.

My family ethnicity is Serbo-Croatian, and I’m enamored with the culture. I immerse myself in the art, music, language, culture, and customs. I contribute to The Slavic Bazaar (a site my sister started) dedicated to all things slavic! I’ll tell you how pizza, seafood, salad, and ice cream is better in the former Yugoslavia, or a Serb, Nikola Tesla, invented electricity. With scant evidence, I’ve tried to convince friends that Haydn was Croatian (Austrian, close), that Yugoslavs invented the fork, or that Croatia was once the axis of the Roman empire (though it did comprise a large part.)

I can’t help my Slavic-centricity, the culture is in my blood. However, while I’m committed to learning as much as I can and dedicate considerable time and effort doing so, I would never expect or force someone else to feel the same.

Similarly, I think Michelle’s emphasis on her “blackness” is appropriate for her personal pursuits, or any other private entity that finds it of value, but of limited relevance as a possible First Lady. Similarly, if I was in her position, emphasizing the value of my Serbo-Croatianess, and vowing to use all my resources towards advancing such aims through public policy – my reign on stages would be short-lived, and rightly so.

That is my criticism. It may be tedious to mention that the United States is bursting with a population of myriad races, ethnicities, abilities, and interests. A President and his First Lady should be keenly aware of embracing that diversity by respecting individual rights. This is not through achieved through policy-making that is limited in scope at best, narrowly focused on singular communities, black or otherwise.

No matter how intelligent a leader holds the Presidency, the government could never plan a system that can account for the innumerable ways diversity manifests itself. Attempts to force an outcome will always fail, which is why I squirm when Michelle Obama proclaims that, “Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.”

The President is a steward of freedom and individual rights, of course. But that cannot be won through intimidation, no matter how benign the designs and lofty the ideals appear.

The dismal history of central planning shows that government attempts to artificially construct a social or economic ideal leads to failures too numerous to recount, which are amusing in their ineffectiveness at best, and lead to populations of oppressed or slaughtered at worst.

I have a brilliant friend who is half-Columbian who used to say, “My father came to this country a penniless immigrant, your father came to this country a penniless immigrant, and yet I’m the one who got a free education.” I would not underestimate that my friend’s talents won him full scholarships through two undergraduate and two master’s degrees, a PhD, and ultimately a tenure-track professorship at a Big Ten university, he's remarkable. However, he found this to be a baffling example of the exclusionary policies inherent in affirmative action, which was designed to foster inclusion and equal opportunity. I'm inclined to agree.