Michelle Obama Says White People Fled Her Neighborhood Growing Up
Former First Lady Michelle Obama recently sat down for a candid interview at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. During the interview, Michelle discussed issues like racism and opened up about her experience growing up on the south side of Chicago. One topic she spoke about was something that she is referring to as “white flight,” which is when white people leave a neighborhood as more African Americans begin to move in, according to The Washington Examiner.
Michelle recalled that she witnessed white people being afraid to live among blacks because they feared what the African American race represented. Even though many black families such as Michelle’s were not involved in any crime and did not pose a threat to the community, still white people felt the need to flee the neighborhood. She compared the fear that was so prevalent in Chicago back then and still exists today to current issues, such as immigration and problems at the southern border. Michelle emphasized that the divide that has occurred within the United States because of differing views of immigration is no different than the fear that she witnessed as a child in her own community. She described this fear as being based solely upon a person’s looks.
“As we moved in, white folks moved out because they were afraid of what our families represented. I want to remind white folks that y’all were running from us… This family, with all the values that you read about, you were running from us. And you’re still running because we’re no different than the immigrant families that are moving in. The families that are coming from other places to try to do better. But, because we can so easily wash over who we really were — because of the color of our skin, because of the texture of our hair — that’s what divides countries, artificial things.”
Michelle further discusses issues like this as well as additional recounts of experiences from her childhood in her book, Becoming. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Michelle’s memoir was released in November of 2018, with well over 10 million copies having been sold. The book is largely based upon her time living in the White House, but it doesn’t shy away from more private topics such as her marriage to the 44th president, Barack Obama, her time at Harvard, plus family topics. She even reveals that she and Barack once went to marriage counseling in order to resolve problems within their relationship.
