Michelle Obama experienced 'daily slights' from White America even as first lady: 'People don't even see you'
Michelle Obama, on Thursday, August 27, opened up about her personal experiences with racism, even when she was the first lady. Michelle made the revelation on the latest episode of 'The Michelle Obama Podcast', where she and her longtime friends -- Kelly Dibble, Denielle Pemberton-Heard, Sharon Malone -- shared stories of how they faced racism in their lives
"What the White community doesn't understand about being a person of color in this nation is that there are daily slights," Obama said. "In our workplaces, where people talk over you, or people don't even see you." She explained how when she went "incognito" during the eight years she was in the White House during her husband Barack Obama's two presidential terms, White people would not even acknowledge her.
"When I’ve been completely incognito during the eight years in the White House, walking the dogs on the canal, people will come up and pet my dogs, but will not look me in the eye. They don’t know it’s me,” Obama recounted, adding later: "That is so telling of how White America views people who are not like them, like we don’t exist. And when we do exist, we exist as a threat. And that’s exhausting."
Obama, during another part of the podcast, also recounted an incident that occurred when she went out for ice-cream with her daughters Sasha and Malia and friend Pemberton-Heard. "We had just finished taking the girls to a soccer game. We were stopping to get ice cream and I had told the Secret Service to stand back, because we were trying to be normal, trying to go in," the former first lady recalled. “There was a line, and… when I’m just a black woman, I notice that white people don’t even see me. They’re not even looking at me.”
“So I’m standing there with two little Black girls, another black female adult, they’re in soccer uniforms, and a White woman cuts right in front of us to order. Like, she didn’t even see us,” Obama continued. “The girl behind the counter almost took her order. And I had to stand up ’cause I know Denielle was like, ‘Well, I’m not gonna cause a scene with Michelle Obama." So I stepped up and I said, "Excuse me? You don’t see us four people standing right here? You just jumped in line?"
Obama added that the woman did not even apologize and never looked the first lady in the eye. "She didn’t apologize, she never looked me in my eye, she didn’t know it was me. All she saw was a Black person, or a group of Black people, or maybe she didn’t even see that. Because we were that invisible," Obama said.
The former first lady revealed that amidst the ongoing unprecedented chapter in the Black Lives Matter movement, she has often leaned on her friend group, especially the Black women in it, for comfort and support. "My girlfriend group, while it is diverse, it has been so important for me to have Black women in my crew," she said. "There's just a certain relief that comes when you don't have to walk into your friend group and explain yourself." Obama concluded, "My group of female friends aren't calling me to say, 'What can I do?' They're calling me to say, 'How you doin' girl? Let's talk.'"