MICHELLE OBAMA WAS RECENTLY INTERVIEWED BY CBS, AND SHE DREW
ATTENTION TO A NUMBER OF REALLY INTERESTING TOPICS, INCLUDING
THE NOTION THAT SHE'S A SO-CALLED ANGRY BLACK WOMAN.
THAT WAS A COMMON CRITICISM DURING OBAMA'S
ADMINISTRATION, AND SHE NEVER REALLY UNDERSTOOD WHY SHE
WAS CALLED AN ANGRY BLACK WOMAN.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY, BECAUSE I LITERALLY NEVER SAW HER
ANGRY ONCE.
BUT NONETHELESS, SHE DID RESPOND TO THAT CRITICISM DURING
THE INTERVIEW.
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY.
WHEN YOU WERE LABELED THAT ANGRY BLACK WOMAN ñ
THAT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU JUST SORT OF THINK,
DANG, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME.
YOU JUST SORT OF FEEL LIKE, WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?
YOU KNOW?
AND THAT'S THE FIRST BLOWBACK, BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT IS SO NOT
ME.
BUT THEN YOU SORT OF THINK, WELL THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME, THIS IS
ABOUT THE PERSON, OR THE PEOPLE WHO WRITE IT.
THAT'S JUST THE TRUTH.
THAT'S WHAT MAYA ALWAYS USED TO SAY TO ME.
AND THEN YOU START TO THINK, WE ARE SO AFRAID OF EACH OTHER.
YOU KNOW?
COLOR, WEALTH, THESE THINGS THAT DON'T MATTER, STILL PLAY
TOO MUCH OF A ROLE IN HOW WE SEE ONE ANOTHER.
AND IT'S SAD, BECAUSE THE THING THAT LEAST DEFINES US AS PEOPLE
IS THE COLOR OF OUR SKIN.
IT'S THE SIZE OF OUR BANK ACCOUNTS.
NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
YOU KNOW THIS.
YES, OF COURSE.
IT'S OUR VALUES, IT'S HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES.
I KIND OF WISH THAT SHE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT WEALTH IN THAT
ANSWER.
YEAH, IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE.
IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE.
AND ALSO, I THINK THE SIZE OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT IN SOME
CASES DOES SAY SOMETHING ABOUT WHO YOU ARE.
I DON'T BEGRUDGE RICH PEOPLE.
OPRAH, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE IS NOT A PERSON
WHO IS TRYING TO SOMEHOW CAPTURE THE GOVERNMENT AND TO
CORRUPTION AND ALL THAT STUFF.
BILL GATES, SUNNY WILL GET MAD AT MICROSOFT, BUT HE'S AN
ENTREPRENEUR.
MY POINT IS, DON'T GET MAD AT YOUR LOCAL DENTIST FOR
HAVING A NICE HOUSE.
THAT'S FINE.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, LIKE, ONE, IT'S WEIRD, IT DOESN'T FIT IN
WITH THE RACE QUESTION AT ALL, AND SOMETIMES, SOME WEALTHY
PEOPLE DO MAKE IT MATTER.
YEAH, SO LIKE THE WALTON FAMILY THAT OWNED WALMART.
DID YOU KNOW THAT SIX MEMBERS OF THE WALTON FAMILY HAVE THE SAME
AMOUNT OF ñ HAVE AS MUCH MONEY AS THE BOTTOM 50% OF AMERICANS?
AND THEY ARE BOTH NOW RICH, MICHELLE OBAMA AND OPRAH,
SO I REALLY WISH THEY HADN'T BROUGHT THAT UP.
LIKE, AS THEY ARE SITTING IN A GORGEOUS, WHATEVER THAT IS,
THE WHITE HOUSE?
IT'S GORGEOUS AND THEY ARE BOTH CURRENTLY RICH, TELLING A
LOT OF US WHO ARE NOT THAT RICH, WELL IT DOESN'T MATTER.
DOESN'T MATTER TO YOU BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE IT.
BACK TO RACE, YOU KNOW WHERE IT COMES FROM, IT'S AN OLD ñ IT'S
AN OLD RACIAL STEREOTYPES ABOUT HOW BLACK PEOPLE ARE ANGRY.
AND AGAIN, IT COMES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE DAYS OF SLAVERY.
IT'S NOT TO DREDGE UP SLAVERY.
IT'S JUST TO TELL YOU WHERE THAT STEREOTYPE COMES FROM.
AND PART OF THE REASON THAT PEOPLE DID THAT IN THE SOUTH
WAS, ONE, IF YOU WERE A SLAVE AND YOU WEREN'T ANGRY,
THAT'S KIND OF WEIRD, DON'T YOU THINK?
IF I WAS A SLAVE, I'D BE SUPER PISSED.
AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR AND I'M FREE, I HAVE ALL THE RIGHT
IN THE WORLD TO BE ANGRY.
BUT THEY WEREN'T.
I'M NOT SAYING THEY WERE ANGRY OVERALL AND EVERYONE WAS
ANGELS, ETC.,
JUST SAYING IT WAS A MADE UP STEREOTYPE AND IT WAS
MAINLY PROTECTION.
AFTER THE GROTESQUE VIOLENCE DONE TRAFFIC AND AMERICANS IN
THIS COUNTRY, THEY THEN TURNED AROUND AND CALLED THEM
VIOLENT AND ANGRY, AND IT WAS DONE TO SUPPRESS THEM.
I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THAT ANGRY IS USED IN A VERY
NEGATIVE, DISPARAGING WAY, IN THE CONTEXT OF RACE, AND
WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT, BUT I DO
THINK THIS POINT STILL MATTERS.
I THINK IT'S INTERESTING THAT THE WORD ANGRY HAS A
NEGATIVE CONNOTATION TO IT.
AND IT'S ESPECIALLY NEGATIVE IF IT'S ASSOCIATED WITH WOMEN.
SO, YOU DON'T HEAR ANGRY BLACK MAN AS OFTEN AS YOU HEAR ANGRY
BLACK WOMAN, BECAUSE IT HAS A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A NEGATIVE
IMPACT IF IT'S REGARD ñ IF IT'S IN REGARD TO A WOMAN.
THE POINT I WANT TO MAKE IS, ANGER IS NOT SOMETHING THAT
SOMEONE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF, OR SOMEONE TO TRY TO HIDE OR TRY TO
SOMEHOW DOWNPLAY, ANGER IS A REAL HUMAN EMOTION THAT OFTEN
TIMES COMES FROM A PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE SOMETHING UNFAIR
HAPPENED, OR THERE'S SOME KIND OF INJUSTICE.
IT'S WHAT MAKES US HUMAN.
YOU BRING UP A GREAT POINT.
ON THE ISSUE OF GENDER IT'S A LITTLE MIXED.
THEY'VE CERTAINLY HIT OBAMA WITH EVERY BLACK MAN AS WELL.
DO THEY USE IT MORE WITH WOMEN?
I DON'T KNOW, IT'S A FAIR QUESTION AND I SEE WHY YOU
SAY THAT MIGHT BE THE CASE.
BUT I THINK THE GREAT POINT IS THAT PART OF THE REASON WHY THEY
DO THE STEREOTYPE IS SO THAT THEY DON'T WANT THAT REACTION.
YOU BETTER NOT BE ANGRY BLACK WOMAN, RIGHT?
BECAUSE, HEY, JUST LEAVE THE POWERFUL ALONE.
WHATEVER THE CURRENT STATUS QUO IS, IT WANTS TO PROTECT ITSELF,
AND IT HAS TROUBLE PROTECTING ITSELF IF EVERYBODY IS ANGRY.
WHAT TELLS YOU IS, EVERYBODY CALMED DOWN, BE COOL,
EVERYTHING IS FINE.
WHAT ARE YOU ALSO ANGRY ABOUT?
IN A LOT OF CASES, ANGER SHOWS YOU ARE AWARE.
AND YOU ARE RIGHT, THOSE WHO ARE IN POWER AND ABLE TO
MITIGATE THE SYSTEM, AND DO IT WITHOUT IT ANY TYPE OF REAL
BACKLASH, HATE THE ANGER, BECAUSE THEY SEE IT AS A
SIGN OF POSSIBLE RESISTANCE.
I'M NOT SAYING GO AROUND AND BE VIOLENCE, I'M NOT SAYING GO
AROUND AND HARM PEOPLE, NOT BY ANY MEANS, BUT EVERY ONCE IN A
WHILE ON THIS SHOW, IF THERE IS A TOPIC THAT ANGERS ME AND I'M
VERY OPEN ABOUT MY ANGER, THE CRITICISM WILL START FLOWING IN.
AND I'VE GOT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, THAT'S CRITICISM BUT I
NEATLY BRUSH TO THE SIDE, BECAUSE I WOULD NEVER APOLOGIZE
FOR MY ñ THAT IS CRITICISM THAT I IMMEDIATELY BRUSH TO THE SIDE.
I WOULD NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR THAT.
YOU SHOULD BE LOGICAL, AND CONTAIN YOUR EMOTIONS, BUT AT
THE SAME TIME, OFTEN TIMES IT IS VERY LOGICAL TO BE ANGRY.
IF YOU SEE INJUSTICE AND YOU'RE NOT ANGRY ABOUT IT, TO ME
THAT IS SUPER WEIRD.
SO IT DEPENDS ON THE CONTEXT.
SO WHEN THEY TELL YOU THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER BE ANGRY, PART
OF WHAT THEY ARE TELLING YOU IS, YOU SHOULD NEVER FIGHT
BACK, AND THAT IS WHAT WE DON'T AGREE WITH HERE.