Obama Opens Up About Experiencing Racism
President Obama may be the most powerful man in the world, but he isn’t exempt from experiencing racism. In a new interview with PEOPLE Magazine, The POTUS and FLOTUS revealed several instances where the was racially profiled.
“I think people forget that we’ve lived in the White House for six years,” the first lady told PEOPLE. “Before that, Barack Obama was a black man that lived on the South Side of Chicago, who had his share of troubles catching cabs,” she added.
In the wake of Eric Garner and Michael Brown’s death, the President detailed a time when he was mistaken for the valet. “There’s no black male my age, who’s a professional, who hasn’t come out of a restaurant and is waiting for their car and somebody didn’t hand them their car keys,” he said.
There was also a time when he was mistaken for a waitor. “He was wearing a tuxedo at a black-tie dinner, and somebody asked him to get coffee,” Michelle said.
“The small irritations or indignities that we experience are nothing compared to what a previous generation experienced,” President Obama added. “It’s one thing for me to be mistaken for a waiter at a gala. It’s another thing for my son to be mistaken for a robber and to be handcuffed, or worse, if he happens to be walking down the street and is dressed the way teenagers dress.”
Well said.
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