Download PDF Version Revolt Magazine, Volume 1 Issue No.4

the Black Power Movement on the attitudes of black
Princeton students during the 70s. Hannity claimed
that she herself held, “the belief that blacks must
join in solidarity to combat a white oppressor.”
Failing to note that the First Lady’s thesis goes on
to say, “One can contrast the mood of the campus
years ago and the level of attachment to Blacks to
that of the present mood on the campus [in 1985]
which is more pro-integrationist.” Hannity posed
a rhetorical question on his program, saying, “She
talked about why African-Americans joined together
at Princeton. Is race going to now be an issue for
them?" The irony of Hannity’s statement is that he
fails to see that it is precisely this type of discourse,
which programs such as his proliferate, that makes
race a serious issue for this presidency every single
day. Not because the Obamas are attempting to
push some radical Black Panther agenda, but
because they are never permitted to forget about
the color of their skin. Much of the right-wing
media’s criticism focuses around the issues of race;
whether they believe the Obama’s to be pandering
to minorities, plotting some sort of black American
revolution, accusing Obama of manipulating the
public with his “coolness” (read: blackness), or
accusing him of lying about his Kenyan origins.
Hannity couldn’t even muster support for his
conspiracy theories amongst his guests, including
Tennessee Republican Congressman Harold Ford
Jr. who replied to Hannity’s line of anti-patriotic
questioning by saying, “If we're looking back to how
spouses of presidential candidates, when they were
students in elementary and junior high and middle
and high school and even college, to determine
whether or not their husband or their spouse
is fit to be president, I think we've sunk to a new
low. Michelle Obama is a model for what anybody
would want their daughter to be. She's smart. Not
only a -- wonderfully capable and accomplished
academically, but she's an incredible mom.”
But, clearly, Michelle Obama was not always viewed
as an ideal role model and mother, certainly by
some of her husband’s right-wing constituents, but,
also, surprisingly, by some left-leaning publications.
During his first presidential campaign, The New
Yorker published a cartoon on their cover portraying
Mrs. Obama with an afro and machine gun giving
Barack a “terrorist fist jab,” implying the radical,
revolutionary Obamas had infiltrated the White
House. However, The New Yorker cover for the
March 16, 2009 issue, a mere year later, shows how
quickly Michelle’s public persona was manipulated
and transformed by the media and spun by the
White House. The 2009 cover shows her walking
the runway in three different stylish outfits. This is
the perfect illustrative example of both the media’s
attempt to mollify or domesticate the image of the
First Lady and the larger dichotomy at hand, which
women in politics must face every day. Either she is
her husband’s co-conspirator, plotting some grand,
black radical takeover of America, or she is the
consummate fashion plate who can’t be bothered
with America’s poor and disenfranchised. As a
woman in the American political limelight, you’re
afforded two possible identities, either that of an
intelligent, shrewd harpie or a vain, thoughtless
socialite. Women’s identities can be condensed
down to these rudimentary understandings, unlike
their male counterparts who are permitted to be as
complex, diverse, and often contradictory as they
like.
Michelle Obama doesn’t fit America’s racial
stereotype of what a black woman should be, so
she’s degraded and insulted and marginalized by
the media until they can find a way to make her fit
into their preconceived notions. We’ve created a
culture surrounding the White House where it’s not
only permissible to say any passing racist or sexist
remark that comes to mind, but it’s all right to gossipmonger,
speculate and fabricate whatever story or
quote is needed in order to support the argument
against a black President and First Lady who were
democratically elected into office. One can’t imagine
these types of lewd and divisive statements being
made about any former president, let alone their
wives. America may have elected their first black
President into office, but we still have an incredibly
long road towards equality, of all kinds, ahead of us.
REVOLT
Magazine Number 4, 2013 18