winning the heart of michelle obama
by McKell Myers
Published: April 1, 2008
Recently Michelle Obama stated, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country and not JUST because Barack has done well but because I think people are hungry for change.” I’m sorry, I’m confused. Are we supposed to feel honored for finally winning her approval?
Forget what has happened in Michelle Obama’s “adult lifetime,” I can’t remember a day when I was not proud of America, and I’m less than half her age. Let’s just forget the rally of the American people after 9/11 and the brave soldiers that are daily ensuring it stays only a memory. Let’s forget the Olympic Games and the times when the flag was raised and the anthem played on behalf of American talent. Let’s forget the aid we give during world catastrophes, or the heroic acts of our fellow citizens that occur on a daily basis because by golly, Barack Obama is running for president!
The moments when I have been most proud of America have not necessarily come in times of progress or success, but in the times when people remain loyal and true in spite of the setbacks and disappointments. It is in these times of trial and devastation that true character is revealed. True pride in one’s country does not come and go with the wind. It is not predicated on the populous’ support of a senator, but on the populous’ support of each other.
If we all waited to care like Michelle Obama, nationalism would cease to exist. This country would have never been formed in the first place and the freedoms we enjoy would be overshadowed by never ending cries of entitlement and unsatisfied demands of “equality.” Michelle Obama, at the time Michelle Robinson, in 1985 wrote a thesis entitled “Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community.” In this thesis she wrote: “There [is] no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I am obligated to this community and will utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit the black community first and foremost. ” She in her senior thesis also stated that America was a nation founded on “crime and hatred,” and whites in America were “ineradicably racist.”
Michelle Obama’s pride is not of a worthy nature, but rather a self-serving resented acceptance of us, the American body, and an attempt to “change” us in an un-American way. Racism of course should not be tolerated, but that goes for whites as much as blacks. She only recognizes America when America recognizes her, or her race, or the chip on her shoulder. Who would be serving whom if her husband was to be elected?
Let us elect leaders whose pride has nothing to do with self but everything to do with a humble reverence of the nation that, though far from perfect, provides a place where the priority is freedom and patriotism is a choice, not a charge. I fear that truly winning the heart of Michelle Obama would require sacrificing all that America stands for. It would put race and revenge at the forefront of American politics and as a result move us backwards, not forwards, in our efforts to unite. We shouldn’t have to win the heart of any national servant, they should be winning ours.
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April 16th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Great article I think that you nailed in on the head. I hope that conservatives don’t fall for voting for Obama, just because McCain isn’t liked by really any of us. Liked or not we need him over Obama