Posted By Eric Owens On 11:26 PM 05/10/2015
Globetrotting, Ivy League-educated, Marchesa gown-wearing first lady Michelle Obama’s commencement address at Tuskegee University on Saturday described the trials and tribulations she believes she has faced as the first black first lady in American history.
The intense media scrutiny, occasional critical and disparaging remarks — it’s all too much and she said it has led to sleepless nights either in the White House or in posh, five-star hotels where she and her retinue stay, according to The Hill.
“You might remember the on-stage celebratory fist bump between me and my husband after a primary win that was referred to as a ‘terrorist fist jab,'” she told graduates of the private, historically black science- and engineering-heavy school in Alabama.
“And over the years, folks have used plenty of interesting words to describe me. One said I exhibited ‘a little bit of uppity-ism,'” Obama said. “Another noted that I was one of my husband’s ‘cronies of color.’ Cable news once charmingly referred to me as ‘Obama’s Baby Mama.'”
The international jetsetter, a graduate of both Princeton University and Harvard Law School, also complained that she feels she endured a set of expectations during her husband Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign that was different than the expectations for other would-be presidential wives. (RELATED: Remember When Obama Was The Messiah?)
Specifically, she believes the questions she faced as a potential first lady were overly invasive.
“As potentially the first African-American first lady, I was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations; conversations sometimes rooted in the fears and misperceptions of others. Was I too loud, or too angry, or too emasculating? Or was I too soft, too much of a mom, not enough of a career woman?” Obama said, according to The Hill.
Obama said she and her husband, the president of the United States and arguably the most powerful man in the world, have faced “frustrating” racism, which is “a heavy burden to carry.”
“We’ve both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives,” she griped.
Obama additionally observed that the Tuskegee Airmen, the legendary regiment of black World War II pilots, faced degrading racial insults but overcame the racial mistreatment to achieve heroism.
The first lady urged Tuskegee University graduates never “to succumb to feelings of despair and anger.”
Along with President Obama and the couple’s two children (and occasionally her mother), Michelle Obama has made sure to spend plenty of taxpayer dollars on an impressive run of sweet luxury vacations.
In January, the president and first lady Michelle Obama traveled at taxpayer expense to beautiful, exotic India. The trip included a romantic visit to the Taj Mahal, perhaps the world’s most famous architectural testament of love — a gleaming, white marble mausoleum constructed under the orders of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. (RELATED: Obama To Show Michelle Taj Mahal)
Back in March 2014, the whole Obama clan faced the prospect of cutting a mini-vacation in sunny Key Largo, Fla. short because of Russia’s meddling in Ukraine. It was sad, too, because the first family wanted some rest and relaxation away from the cold, snowy doldrums of Washington, D.C. (RELATED: OH NO! Obama May Have To Cut Third Vacation THIS YEAR Short Because Of Ukraine)
That same month, Michelle Obama and the first daughters Malia and Sasha jetted off to China for over a week of much-needed sightseeing. (RELATED: Globetrotting Michelle Obama Announces Luxurious Vacation To China)
As of July 2014, the Obama family had already spent a whopping $44,351,777.12 in taxpayer funds on vacations. That dollar amount is obviously substantially higher now. (RELATED: The Obamas Have Spent Over $44 Million In Taxpayer Cash On Travel)
In 2008, then-candidate Obama promised gullible New York Times columnist Bob Herbert that he would not take vacations if he were elected president. (VIDEO FLASHBACK: Obama Promises No Vacations For Himself As President)
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