Braids, bias, and a Black first lady

Politics

Originally posted at American Thinker

On the first stop of a 13-night nationwide tour to promote her new book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” “Michelle Obama, disguised as an angel of light,” chatted with host Ellen DeGeneres.  Held at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC, Michelle O spouted braids, bias and a Black first lady to a full house.

In a show of defiance that inspired audience applause, at the end of her diatribe, Obama motioned to her current hairstyle and exclaimed, “Braids, ya’ll!”

For Michelle Obama, “overcoming in uncertain times” requires a new hairdo and self-help book tour to instigate the sort of hatred that contributes to “uncertain times.”  But then again, never-ending bitterness is quintessential Mrs. O.

Time and again, the former first lady misuses public fondness as an excuse to express hatred. Drawing audiences in by feigning maternal concern, every gathering devolves into Michelle-style venom on full display. This time the star author felt it was relevant to inspire images of flat irons and hair relaxers.

Think about it; six years post Obama presidency and a full house of diverse fans are subjected to stories about forgoing braids to accommodate a nation that she says needed to ‘adjust’ to a Black first lady.

Blinded by hatred, Michelle Obama must have forgotten her husband became President the year the nation was 66% Caucasian.  Was Shelly afraid braids would remind the voters that elected Barack Obama that he was Black?

Weaves, Afros, or keratin straighteners, it’s likely Americans already knew the President was biracial and didn’t need Michelle’s hairstyle to verify that fact.

And so, a woman who rarely wore braids before becoming first lady, chooses to expose her own racial animosity by suggesting to a book tour audience that a Black woman straightening her hair made Blackness more acceptable to White Americans.

Implying that it would have been much easier to dig in her organic victory garden with braided hair (and $540 sneakers), out of consideration for the hayseeds who assign racial connotations to hairstyle, Mrs. Obama thought, “nope, they ain’t ready for it.”  So instead of braids,  Southside Shelly hired a White stylist named, Meredith Koop, a full-time hairdresser, and a makeup artist.

What M.O. doesn’t realize is the authenticity she prides herself on, doesn’t exist.  What does it say about a person that submits to public pressure to assuage criticism?  Or is Michelle fabricating this story to fuel personal animosity toward a whole segment of American society she tends to loathe?

Coiffure and tresses aside, the most disturbing part of this story is that it revolves around the petty hostility Michelle still embraces.  Sorry, but choosing a bob-over-braids is a pathetic reflection of Michelle’s narcissistic self-absorption and superficiality.  Does she really believe a hairstyle was enough to divert attention from 8-years of total chaos?

Did Michelle Obama think sacrificing doing her hair “the way she wanted” would distract from reality?  Would braided hair eclipse images of Ambassador Christopher Stevens’s bloodied, dead body lying on the street in Benghazi?  Does Shelly really think cornrows overshadow the failed stimulus, the healthcare debacle, and the Iran nuclear deal? How about Fast & Furious, weaponizing the IRS, net neutrality, Bowe Bergdahl, NSA spying, Solyndra, suppressing the First Amendment, and much more?

Michelle didn’t stop at her personal pain.  Instead, she sabotaged White women in the audience by reminding minorities who came to hear about a book, that whether they realize it or not, navigating the workplace with courser-texture, or curly hair translates into pressure from White beauty standards.

Obama said, “We deal with it, the whole thing about, ‘Do you show up with your natural hair’?” Or do Black women follow Mrs. Obama’s lifelong example and saturate their scalps with toxic chemical straightener to fit in?

Prompting Black women to feel subjugated, Michelle wove in an “overcoming” reference when she ironically addressed DeGeneres, who wears none of these things she mentioned, saying:

That’s the African American experience, but women in offices that are worried, ‘Should I wear skirts? Should I wear pantyhose?’ ‘I hate pantyhose.’ But when you’re carrying all this other stuff, this mask, these differences, and you’re trying to do your job, it’s just an extra burden on overcoming

Continuing to assign racial connotations to everything, Michelle even cited Barack being “blasted” for wearing a tan suit.  The former first lady used the 2014 incident to justify her comment about what braids signify to White America.  Talk about out-of-proportion conjecture.

Obama shared that she feared that if she changed her hairstyle from the chemically straightened version she wore most of her adult life, into a replica of the braids she sported at Princeton, critics would say, “Remember when she wore braids? Those are terrorist braids! Those are revolutionary braids!”

Is this the kind of ‘light Michelle Obama carries?’

Either way, the former first lady couldn’t help but bring up the man who offers no apology for his unique hairstyle.  On the first night of her book tour, the onetime FLOTUS let the most accurate insight she’s had in her adult life slip out when she said this about Trump’s win in 2016,

You don’t want to make this personal, but as I write in the book, it hurt…because you wonder was it a rebuke of the eight years, the sacrifice we made?  Was it complacency?  What was it?

Maybe what it was, was public disdain for the type of rhetoric that turns hairdos into soapboxes to further a racial divisiveness that has nothing to do with braids and everything to do with resentment.

515 Comments

  3. vagina
    Reply

    My brother recommended I would possibly like this web site.
    He was once totally right. This publish actually made my day.

    You cann’t believe simply how much time I had spent
    for this information! Thank you!

  10. acupuncture austin tx
    Reply

    Hi there, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar
    one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of
    spam responses? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can advise?
    I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any assistance is very much appreciated.

  11. Malaysia electric fence
    Reply

    Appreciating the time and energy you put into your blog and in depth information you offer.
    It’s nice to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed material.
    Fantastic read! I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your
    RSS feeds to my Google account.

  14. RAJACSO
    Reply

    It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this fantastic
    blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my
    Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and
    will share this website with my Facebook group.
    Chat soon!

  15. Best Slot Sites
    Reply

    Hi there, I discovered your web site by way of Google whilst searching
    for a related topic, your web site came up, it seems to be great.
    I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
    Hello there, just was alert to your blog via Google, and located that it’s truly informative.
    I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you continue
    this in future. A lot of folks will be benefited from your
    writing. Cheers!

  20. Link Daftar
    Reply

    I believe that is among the so much important info for me.
    And i am glad reading your article. But want to remark on some general things,
    The website style is perfect, the articles is in point of fact great
    : D. Good task, cheers

  32. g2g8888
    Reply

    Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all people you actually recognize what you’re speaking approximately!
    Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my web site =). We will have a hyperlink alternate agreement between us

  33. more helpful hints
    Reply

    Just wish to say your article is as astounding.

    The clearness to your put up is just nice and that i can think you
    are knowledgeable on this subject. Fine along with your permission allow me to seize
    your feed to keep updated with coming near near post.

    Thank you one million and please keep up the rewarding work.

  34. sites
    Reply

    I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your site.

    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more
    pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer
    to create your theme? Great work!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to Top