Michelle Obama says she had to work harder than any other First Lady, resents the 'angry black woman' stereotype
Michelle Obama has been called many things but the label that she still resents having been given is that of the stereotypical “angry black woman”. The former First Lady was being interviewed by Gayle King at the 25th Essence Music Festival in New Orleans when she brought up the stereotype that far too many African American women have been unfairly labelled with.
CBS reports how Obama told King she was portrayed as a woman who was “emasculating her husband" during the 44th president’s 2008 election campaign.
"For a minute there, I was an angry black woman who was emasculating her husband," Obama recalled. "As I got more popular, that's when people of all sides - Democrats and Republicans -- tried to take me out by the knees and the best way to do it was to focus on the one thing people were afraid of - the strength of a black woman."
She has also addressed the topic in chapter 17 of her best-selling autobiography, ‘Becoming’.
“It was important to tell that part of the story because they see me and Barack now, but they don't know how many punches it took us to get there,” Obama said about the memoir.
The Daily Mail reports that the Obamas used a ghostwriter as part of their combined $65 million publishing deal with Penguin Random House in 2017.
Obama was the first black woman in the role of First Lady of the United States. Her unique position in history meant she had to work especially hard to prove her credentials.
“I had to prove that not only was I smart and strategic, but I had to work harder than any First Lady in history,” she said.
When asked what makes a good president, the former First Lady joked about how nobody listened to her the last time an election was coming around.
Obama spoke about the day Donald Trump took over as President saying: “That day was very emotional and then to sit at that inauguration and to look around at a crowd that was not reflective of the country, and I had to sit in that audience as one of the handfuls of people of color, all that I had to hold on to over those last eight years, and it was a lot emotionally."
When asked if Obama is living her best life, she noted that while "the Obama family is doing fine," it's not enough for them that they have a good life while so many still continue to suffer.
"Barack and I aren't living our best life until we're all living our best life," she said.