WASHINGTON—With polls showing African-Americans have yet to give overwhelming support to White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), his wife Michelle said “black America will wake up and get it" in an interview running on MSNBC on Monday.
MSNBC is using excerpts of a Michelle Obama interview to run in full on Tuesday morning. In a clip that’s featured in the afternoon cycle, Michelle Obama invoked the name of civil rights leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. when talking about African-American turnout, a crucial voting bloc for the Illinois senator.
Michelle Obama said there was a "natural fear of possibility" and that there were times in her life when she was put down and not encouraged. There is "always that doubt in the minds of people of color."
She said the African-American community has to shake of its fear
“That’s what we want to show our community,” Michelle Obama said. "...We can do this too."
If elected, Obama, whose mother was white and father black, would be the first African-American president.
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski landed the exclusive with Michelle Obama. Her father, Zbigniew Brzezinski, is one of Barack Obama’s national security advisors.
wow..."well, look", i didn't know michelle was on the ballot either. maybe we've confused michelle obama with michelle duvalier...or perhaps,"look" and "well" maybe she doesn't get it. black america gets it and got it long before bonnie and clyde came along, and perhaps thats why the birds ain't flockin' to their tent.
She right. AA's are prisoners of our fears. We have become afraid of success and comfortable with being the victim. (ex. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson.) Obama is about getting things done. He is a new generation of American leader. Let's move on from the past and vote.
It's irrelevant if blacks turn out for Obama. Every four years the democratic nominee gets 90% or more of the black vote, but it still doesn't help the democrat get elected. Obama doesn't bring any new voters to the democratic party because democrats already have a monopoly on the black vote and the guilty white liberal vote.
Obama criticized Hillary for appealing to women sympathies. Isn't his wife doing the same thing with blacks. The more I hear from the Obamas the more mixed messages I hear. I didn't watch the Meet the Press interview yesterday but I did read the whole transcript and it appears that Tim Russert was also honing in on mixed messages and other inconsistencies. I don't believe that Michelle Obama is doing her husband any favors with her loose tongue. If I were black I would have heard from her that there is still time to wake up and see things her way.
What a way to win friends and votes!!..."Hey Black America you are sleeping AND stupid" (but please send money).
michelle obama does not get it and should tread softly. we are wide awake. to my recollection, obama has not had much to say on race relations to date. he uses a fake sing-song delivery when he speaks "down south" which is really an insult. where does obama stand on race, religion, jobs, jail, drugs, lack of opportunity and a myriad of other problems that we face and have faced for over 100 years. we get it. i say to mr obama..stand and deliver.
Black folks get it, they're for Hillary! Obama is hateful and will never be president.
Hillary all the way!
This comments are idiotic. Michelle Obama is saying the exact opposite of what Hillary Clinton's campaign was trying to do. Mrs. Obama is not telling Blacks to vote for Barack because he's Black. She's saying don't be afraid of voting for him because he's Black. Hillary says vote for me because I'm a woman. Barack says don't be afraid of voting for me because I'm Black. There is an obvious difference. Inevitably, partisans and brainless pundits will not see it.
It's funny, I was walking some black precincts for Obama over the weekend and I was actually thinking to myself that I was literally waking people up to the possibility of Obama's candidacy. A lot of blacks don't really understand that they have the power to get this guy over the top; they don't realize that he's more popular amongst whites than he is amongst blacks right now; they don't know his history of advocating for black causes. Once they figure out the situation, I think they will "wake up" and support him overwhelmly.
I remember in 1998, I said there would never be a black President. Then in 2004 I saw Mr. Obama's keynote address at the Democratic Convention and my mind opened up to the possibility that maybe it could happen. So believe me when I say that many African Americans still feel the way that I did before 04 despite the rise of Mr. Obama. There is also the fact that Bill Clinton who is very popular amongst the Black community, (Often refered to as the first "black" President), is also a major reason why African Americans haven't flocked away from the Clinton Camp. There is also fears that he could be assassinated, and anxiety that the country is still to racist. Not to mention the early questions of whether or not he's really black. Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
In the end to tell you the truth all of these reasons get ridiculous after awhile! We shouldn't vote for anyone who isn't gonna bring about REAL and positive changes to America and right now for me Hillary nor Obama represent that change. I am an African American and I'm not voting for Hillary, or Obama because because one is a woman and the other is black. If anything right now I'm a heck of alot closer to registering as a Republican and voting for Ron Paul. It's ideas, and good judgement in decision making that count not race or gender!
please get a clue haters. She's just one black woman, a lot of you negative posters are actually proving her point. And for Ann Memphis, TN...it's not about that 90%, half of which are still fooled by Hillary, but the ones who have not been actiive. Plewase don't estimate that crowd. Frankly most blacks I believe are still a bit torn between DK, JE and HRC as well. And we really don't care about all of the non-essential trappings and fakes like jesse jackson.
I don't believe we are comfortable with being the victim because it gets us no where. Although I would say a loarge segment of the Jewish community does endlessly. We're more a victim of our own caricatures, lowest common denominators and idiotic fads. It has to be also said that in reality, a large percentage of white male candidates would NOT be respected by numerous leaders throughout the world. Though a woman or non-white could bring much more, especially if they came non-hegemonic in view.
Does Michelle Obama realize that she is actually *hurting* her husband's prospects every time she speaks? Her comments are racially divisive, and surprisingly insensitive.
Her personal attack on Hillary was particularly venomous:
"... if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House."
At the same time she was blaming *Hillary* for Bill's infidelity, while asserting that this disqualifies her for the nation's high post.
No wonder her husband's support among women began to slide soon after her comments.
She, in fact, represents some of what is wrong in this country - black folks perpetuating and *increasing* the racial divide, and women keeping other women down. Shame on Mrs. Obama.
At this point, she would be best served to simply shut up.
Her words lean more toward truth than anything else. Black folks are a rather hopeful people, generally, but the fear she refers to is fear many have for her husband's life. She knows the same history everyone on this board knows. That is, when someone of color get into a position of power, primitive thinking people kill them. With the loss of that leader the community grieves and rebels. The question to Mrs. Obama is, what has she or Senator Obama done for black people which makes them worth their grief, rebellion or vote? If she cannot answer that question, black peopel will not vote for your husband. Although, I will.
Not even Cornell West supports Obama.
--
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HXj3_pjTTwg
Maybe Michelle Obama needs to wake up and realize her husband is toeing the same line of the corporate interests as the rest of them are. Lest we not forget the gay-basher Obama just recently brought on campaign appearances with him. Oh, and his stance on same-sex-marriage, which comes straight out of the GOP playbook.
Wake Up Michelle!!!
Barack Obama is the best hope for black America since Martin Luther King. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are black people living in America. Barack Obama is an American who is black. He has fulfilled the 'two-ness' hope of W.E.B. DuBois from his 1803 book "The Soul of Black Folk."
Ohg
http://thefiresidepost.com/2007/10/11/obama-the-soul-of-black-folk-incarnated/
Ann from Memphis-
It's racists like you that talk about "the blacks" that made me want to leave my hometown, the place where you still reside.
Guilty white liberals are better than racist Bush apologist Christofascists any day of the week.
Sorry you hate your fellow man because of his skin. Is that really what Jesus would do, Ann?
John Casey you will never understand things until you come out of your little box.
Jerry , i think you should go back and get your facts straight,
Lynn Sweet, is this all you have got?
As with most arguments in American Politics this is a dopey one. If people should vote based on skin color then nominee Obama gets the black vote and nominee Guiliani gets the rest of America. The Democrats lose. Black people do not get people elected in this country.
I thought Michelle was smarter than this.
Disclaimer I am not an African American, I am a black man from England living in the US. There is no check box for that.
I totally agree with Michelle Obama. We in the African American community know many of our own people who have bought into the racist stereotypes about our own race.
I have witnessed Americans of African descent comment that they would "never trust anything black". I have seen my mouth and others drop open upon hearing this nonsense. I have talked with others in my race about the lingering effect that racism has had on many of our own people. Some of us don't trust our own. We don't believe we are as intelligent or can be more intelligent than someone of another race. Thankfully not all of us feel this way.
As with all racial and ethnic groups, people of African descent are varied in their views and values. There are fortunately many of us in this country who have never believed the racist propaganda against our race.
I will vote for Obama. He is an intelligent man with principles. He's no Hillary Clinton; saying whatever she thinks is necessary to occupy the White House. I have always thought Hillary Clinton was highly intelligent, but, she does not appear to be a principled person, especially since her double-speaking at the last debate.
Obama will even bring...gasp...Republicans to vote for him. I was shocked when my relative (a Repug lifer, Limbaugh guy) said he could vote for him. I think "wake up" is right. Life was better for most when Bill was pres. but Hill is not Bill.
new to it,
Cornell West is an updaid adviser to the Obama campaign. They personally met AFTER that appearance you link. He has since endorsed Senator Obama, idiot!
"I will vote for Obama. He is an intelligent man with principles. He's no Hillary Clinton;"
Riiiight. Hillary's the one who just got transgenders on the hate crimes bill, and has full blown drag-queens in her campaign commercials, while Obama thinks marriage should only be between a man-and-woman, and just had OG Gay-Basher at one of his campaign stops.
Yeah, *real* great principles he's got there.
(let's not even think about his awesome stance on hedge-funds which are driving this country into a dark abyss..oh, also let's not talk about his record of voting for every budget request for the Iraq Invasion/Occupation.)
Obama is not doing well because he has been running a Republican style campaign --With the help of No Nuance Republican controlled Media operatives Chris Mathews and Tim Russert -- who are psychologically abusive and use Republican Talking Points and erroneous premises on their show.
They gave the Swiftboat Liars for the War in Vietnam tens of BILLIONS in free advertising.
This is because GE is a Republican company that wants to see Democrats destroy each other...Obama has been complient and was egged on like an immoral fool that he has revealed himself to be.
Speaking as a black person---black people are idiots. The first commentor proves this with the ignorant waste of space written at the top of this comments page. First, what she meant was we'll get that he isn't going to be killed or that he's not going to lose simply because he's black. I love how so many black people hop in line with Hillary Clinton because she's married to a man who did WHAT exactly for black people? Barack Obama has spent his entire life fighting for the least of these, just WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA ARE?!
As president Ron Paul will help the black community more than any other candidate simply by ending the drug war. Blacks make up twelve percent of the general population but forty-four percent of the prison population. Something like seventy percent of crimes are drug-related, I think. Blacks are unfairly targeted in drug busts, and I'm not aware of any blacks who have aircraft and high-speed boats to deliver the drugs to our shores. Do the math.
What is Senator Obama going to do for the African American community?
Every time Michelle Obama speaks, she reaffirms the fact that she should be running for office rather than her husband. Since she has chosen not to do so, I am not interested in her opinions as they have no more weight than mine.
Michelle, stop being your husband's mouthpiece and keep your day job.
I wanted very much to support Obama because I felt he was the best agent for change out there. I have been waiting and waiting for his message of change and it's just not coming through for me even though I've been trying hard to hear it. I still suspect he'd be an agent for change but I, like many others, need to hear the message in a way that convinces me. So far, it's been like preaching from the pulpit.
I think most of the commenters on this Blog don't know what they are talking about unless they happen to be African American. Michelle Obama was stating a truth. The question has come up over and over again by the MSM about how Hillary has most of the African American vote. But, yet she is not called out for trying to check the community off in her column. There is nothing said about how hard she and Bill are going after AA endorsements. I get tired of the MSM writers trying to parse and read into comments by African Americans about what other AA think. How can Mainstream reporters tell African Americans what they are trying to say about others or how they feel on a given subject. Hello when was the last time they were Black people. Did I miss the memo. There has been virtually nothing said about how hard the Clintons are going after the same demographics. But Michelle Obama, who is African American, cannot make a comment on them without such insulting remarks about her views on the subject. Give me a break.
How about that Obama is the best candidate for all Americans. Let's just leave race out of it! When I vote for him it won't be because of his racial characteristics. Actually, he is half Caucasian and half African-American so to call him one over the other is using the old southern slave standards "if you have one drop...." and I think is racist.
He is multiracial if we have to label people racially, so is my grandson who has a Brazilian Mother and my step-daughter and step-son through my adopted daughter who have an African American Father. I am proud of them and am delighted they are multicultural and in my family constellation! Our stories are part of our sacredness.
Schlomo Overcourt:
"It's racists like you that talk about "the blacks" that made me want to leave my hometown, the place where you still reside."
The name of the person who wrote the post shows up below the message, not above it. You meant to reply to Jerry.
Stephen Johnson:
"If people should vote based on skin color then nominee Obama gets the black vote and nominee Guiliani gets the rest of America."
Obama wants to show that he's not ignoring black America. It's a wise choice, but nobody said that it would be easy. The majority of his supporters have always been white. Republicans see him as someone who could possibly steal their voters and that's why they're giving more support to Hillary. This is not Jesse Jackson's Presidential capaign.
"Disclaimer I am not an African American, I am a black man from England living in the US. There is no check box for that."
Wow, you European blacks are so superior. Tell me; how long will it be before we see a black president in the UK?
Ann wrote: The democrats already get 90% of the AA vote so there is nowhere to go from here. So you concluded that Obama cannot add anything to the ticket, well either you're stupid or else you're thinking the rest of us are foooooools.
I take it you are fimilar with math. do some here and then shut up,
If 40% of AA vote and the democrats get 90%.
Now if 60% of AA vote and the democrats get 90%, does this make a difference in the election. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
These so called blacks from the U.K are Nigerians!
Just because you were born in the U.K or moved there at a young age doesn't mean you are from the U.K.
I know because...
The republicans want Obama to win this election. If you dont believe that listen to how people like George Will, Chris Matthews, and most of FOX news talk about him being a breath of fresh air. It is the only way the Repubs are going to win back the WH. If Obama wins, the Repubs will be mobilized and southern white Democrats will turn against the Dems again and Rudy Guiliani will be the next President of the US. If Bill Clinton is required to be quiet then Michelle Obama and Elizabeth Edwards need to be quiet also. Yesterday was 41's birthday and he took the opportunity to say he thought everyone was being mean to jr. Why is Bill Clinton the only one who needs to be quiet?
I like many of you want to vote for Obama, but I hesitate. Why? I don't want to waste my vote. He is not experienced enough right now for me. Too many serious problems in the world right now. We have just had a person who knew next to nothing and for me, we just cannot take another chance on a lightweight. Obama would be a natural for 2012. Also, my best guess is that many of the other culture have this postive attitude for Obama, sends money,etc., is to split our vote. After the strongest person is defeated, then they simply push their candidate in. We would be too split to continue. It is just my view. I will support whomever the candidate is.
JFK---Nobody can guess what you think, you don't say. You sound a lot like your man Obama---lots of words, no sense.
Michelle Obama is speaking directly about the history of blacks in America. She was addressing the legacy of TWELVE generations of slavery followed by another 100 years of Jim Crow, in this country. Michelle is not attempting to project anything onto whites. This is not about Michelle being racist, rather it is about the mental impact of RACISM.
MLK said it best when asked how he had the courage to walk in those lines and protest for a better America he thought about it when he wrote his letter from the Birmingham jail...he said that his daughter asked him why she could not swim in the public swimming pool and as he answered her to tell her about her station in life as a Negro he could see the clouds of racial prejudice forming in the blue sky of her 6 year old mind. Imagine having to tell your child what they CAN"T do, so they can learn 'their place' in society. Imagine it, can you? Think about how that builds self-esteem.
White folks simply do not get how the mental shackles of racism have been passed on for generations to black folks. White folks forget that many of us have grandmothers who were not allowed to sit in public balconeys or drink out of public water fountains. So many whites do not understand that blacks are only ONE generation removed from the JimCrow era of racism in this country. That pervasive racism severely limited opportunities for blacks and the vestiges still exist in homes all over America where 70 year old grandmothers live with their families and 80 year old uncles can still tell the stories of how they were beat.
That is why Michelle said that she is hoping they will wake up. All blacks who 'pioneer' or blaze a trail have significant scars and the community has significant fears. If you ever want to know how bad racism was to combat, just recall these words spoken by a black athlete who integrated ball playing in the 60s when asked what it was like and how bad it was, he replied "If they tell me I need to integrate heaven to get in, I just won't go"
This is not about white folks it is about the historical legacy of racism in this country when it comes to black folks having optimism, hopes, ideals and the esteem and courage to pursue their dreams. They have to overcome generations of fear in their OWN homes first to garner the support that will provide that foundation.
Learn something about America...it is not all peaches and cream even AFTER the civil rights act.
Of course you authored this new article trying to undermine Michelle Obama - No suprise here.
I did not have to see the author of a fake controvesy article on Obama to know it was from the same author who has been the source of such items in the past.
Thank you Ms. Lynn Sweet for all that you are doing to try and derial the presidency of your home-town-candidate.
As a challenge to you, can you review the items you have written since Obama's announcement in February and try to understand why it appears to some of us that you do not want to give Barack a fair chance in this race for the White House.
Or could it in fact be that it is Michelle you personally do not like???
Michelle has a right to tell Black people the truth. And the truth is that Black people have given away their votes to White candidates for decades simply because they claimed to be Democrats. So, now is not the time to be afraid to vote for a Black man, just because a White candidate pretends to be your friend. The Hillary camp's message is not that proposing she will do anything for the Black community. Their line is merely vote for Hillary because Barack cannot win. Michelle's counter is simply don't go for the okey-doke Barack can win if his own people have the heart to vote for him.
Cliff:
"... if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House."
=Not a "venomous" attack on Hillary. Read the speech.
Don't spread lies.
This is not about racism or black power, this is simply a desperate attempt at seeking black votes. The entire problem of both Obama and Clinton is american's increasing distrust of their campaigns. They talk one way then vote another, or they simply skip the vote entirely.
This is not leadership, this is fools play. And from where I stand, there is one to many of those in the white house as is.
From the tone of these comments, racism is flourishing in America! Beautiful.
I personally feel that the African Americans do not trust politicians from their own race. However, the same could be said for the white people too. We hear all these different promises from the politicians but when they are elected they forget the promises and support the minority lobbies.
Although i would love to see an African American as President, when you observe Collin Powell and Condoliza Rice behaviour than i understand why the African Americans are afraid. In front of fame and greed they forget their history and people.
Thank you Michelle Obama for telling the truth. Despite the attempted caricature of her position that I have seen in some the posts, here is what she actually said. The legacy of slavery and racism is that a large number of African-Americans do not believe that they are able to succeed in the world. Not that they lack the capacity to succeed, but they simply do not believe that it will be possible because they still believe they will not be given the opportunity. Despite having obtained a degree from Princeton, she admits that she was told by people who care about her, that she would not be able to succeed.
Her reaction and Barack's reaction to this was to simply work harder and refuse to allow this to damage their spirit and lead them to quit or ever say "I can't" or "it's not possible". As a successful African-American woman myself, that is exactly the message I strongly believe the country needs to hear from my community and that we need to hear from each other. I frequently meet other black people who app