Political Opinion: Michelle Obama Is Not Just a Black Woman

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A long time ago, I had a fascinating conversation with one of then candidate-Obama’s staffers who just happened to be visiting a home I was staying at while on the campaign. I asked him about criticisms Obama had faced from Cornel West and other African-American commentators for his failure to attend the State of the Black Union forum hosted every year by Tavis Smiley. The aide explained to me that what some black intellectual leaders hadn’t yet realized was that this time, it wasn’t just a case of a black candidate running to represent black America. This was a black candidate who could actually win, and who had the opportunity to be president of all of America, not just a portion of it. As such, he didn’t need to make all of the rounds that African-American candidates make when they are just trying to appeal to black voters.

I thought of this when I read the below story, especially this quote: “Why wasn’t she wearing the clothes of a black designer? That was our moment.” I’m not for a second going to dispute the fact that the election of Obama was massively significant for African-Americans in America, for nothing less than the fact that for once, I believe, blacks in the country felt as though they too were truly Americans, and could potentially be viewed as individuals — as human beings — by everyone. But if that is the case, then Michelle Obama shouldn’t have to wear clothes by a black designer just because she is black. She should wear anything she wants. And the point of Obama’s election is not that African-Americans had a singular moment on January 20th. The hope is that now, every day is their moment, because in Obama’s America, everyone has a chance to succeed. Dismissing such a basic principal — albeit one that has never been realized — as nothing more than “Kumbaya” thinking reveals a mindset in which this election was just a fluke, and wasn’t really representative of a fundamental shift in the thinking of the American electorate regarding race. We’ll have to see how true this turns out to be, but for the time being, why not at least consider it to be a possibility?

Here’s the related story:

FIRST LADY UNDER FIRE: Amid all the praise of First Lady Michelle Obama’s fashion choices for the inaugural festivities, the Black Artists Association is taking her to task for not wearing anything by an African American designer. Cofounder Amnau Eele said Wednesday she will make a formal appeal to the First Lady’s office on behalf of the BAA. “It’s fine and good if you want to be all ‘Kumbaya’ and ‘We Are the World’ by representing all different countries. But if you are going to have Isabel Toledo do the inauguration dress, and Jason Wu do the evening gown, why not have Kevan Hall, B Michael, Stephen Burrows or any of the other black designers do something too?” Eele said. The BAA leader was a runway model in her own right for Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Bill Blass and others.

Asked if perhaps the First Lady isn’t looking at the world colorlessly, Eele said, “It’s one thing to look at the world without color but she had seven slots to wear designer clothes. Why wasn’t she wearing the clothes of a black designer? That was our moment.”