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Michelle Obama: Armed and dangerous

Last week my daughter Felicia and I attended the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. As usual, Chris Rock brought his profound comedic talent to sharply insightful social commentary. “It’s going to be hard for a sister to be first lady … because a black woman can’t play the back role of a relationship,” he said.

Mr. Rock alluded to the common racial stereotype that burdens African-American women: by virtue of our well documented historical role as the strength of the family, we’re characterized as domineering and aggressive. The latest cruelty, extreme even for political satire, was cast in a cartoon of a kinky-haired, armed and dangerous Michelle Obama, on the cover of The New Yorker.

Mrs. Obama, a Princeton and Harvard educated health care executive, who may become the nation’s first African-American First Lady, has shown nothing in her character to justify an insult of this magnitude. While all women are denigrated by the New Yorker’s cover, the attack on Mrs. Obama resonates even more deeply with African-American women.

Even in such ascendancy, the candidate’s wife can’t escape the place African-American women continue to occupy whether in the media or in the doctor’s office; at the bottom of the image totem pole; a spot not even the most accomplished among us can avoid.  African-American women face wage disparities reflective of the race and gender gap, earning 15 percent lower than white women and 10 percent lower than African-American men. We’re the recipients of 54 percent of the nation’s subprime loans. AIDS is the leading cause of death among black women between the ages of 25 and 44, and the rate of unintended pregnancies is twice that of our white counterparts.  Yet, one in five African-American women doesn’t have medical insurance.

The New Yorker attempted to explain the cover as exposing the issues of scare politics in this year’s presidential election and only an example of the magazine’s legendary satire. This rationale fails to measure the impact of the visual absorption of a magazine that will be on display at most news stands and supermarket checkout counters throughout the country for those who don’t get the point and accept the messages consciously or subconsciously at face value. No explanation of the intent behind the denigrating cartoon will prevent the damage caused by reinforcing stereotypes that African-American women’s “intimidating presence” is to be feared, rather than being given the credit for playing a crucial role, through strength, fortitude and nurturing to advance the aspirations of our race.

We will survive racist satire. For those who thought the debate over the intersection of race and gender, in this year’s election, was over with Sen. Barack Obama’s call for a post-racist society and Sen. Hillary Clinton’s demise, the news is that Michelle Obama is her proxy. The atmosphere is turning over the cover of our ugliest social tensions: women and race.

Comments [6]

From July 11, 2008

Jesse Jackson's Truth

There is a lengthy legacy of politicians striking the wrong tone on the role of African-American men in the family. There tends to be more you-shoulds and not enough I-wills. The question remains whether politicians have the will to change the paradigm by which black men are viewed (or not) and judged.

From June 19, 2008

Unaddressed sexism now shifts focus to Michelle Obama

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From May 05, 2008

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From April 30, 2008

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From April 25, 2008

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From April 17, 2008

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Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are attempting to convince Pennsylvanians that they will stem job losses due to trade agreements. They could engage in the kind of unified effort for change that they both promote and simply press for a vote to pass the Fair Pay Restoration Act.

From April 08, 2008

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Mark Penn’s resignation as chief strategist for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was a long time coming...The simple reality is that Mark Penn has led Ms. Clinton’s campaign with a losing strategy.

From March 14, 2008

The Politician’s wife: caught in the crosshairs

While political sex scandals are nothing new, the media’s scrutiny of their impact on politicians’ spouses is a relatively new topic of conversation.

From February 29, 2008

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It’s ironic that at this historical point in women’s political advancement, the governing powers of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign --Mark Penn, Terry McAuliffe, Howard Wolfson and her husband-- have managed to do the impossible. They’ve turned the first credible and well-funded run for the presidency by a woman into something that looks and feels exactly like everything Americans have come to detest. The strategy has resulted in Mrs. Clinton’s campaign becoming just another partisan attack dog.

From February 04, 2008

For Hillary, a show of emotion was sufficient to attract women’s support in New Hampshire. For Obama, a coffee klatch of four in South Carolina was the visual evidence of his attempt to signal interest in the priorities of 54 percent of the electorate. On the Republican side, the inclusion of women in the candidates’ platforms could not be more detached from the realities of women’s lives. Something is wrong with this picture.

From January 18, 2008

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Only in America could a woman, a black man, a coal miner’s son, a guitar-thumping Baptist preacher, a war hero, a wealthy scion, a Hollywood actor and even a Jewish billionaire on the sidelines, be joined in their aspirations to become the new leader of the free world.

From December 14, 2007

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Sen. Barack Obama knows women will call the shots at next year’s election, as was the case in 1992 and 2006. He’s already reaping the media coverage, temporarily dwarfing other candidates, after being endorsed and accompanied to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina by Oprah Winfrey, perhaps women’s most celebrated TV icon. It remains to be seen whether his campaign’s new focus on women, which includes targeted videos and messages, are effective in securing women’s support...

From November 12, 2007

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Stories abound of women whose partners have bombarded their emails with pornographic images and insulting messages. After all, abuse usually comes by the hands of someone known to the victim. Most stalkers know their prey.

From September 12, 2007

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Women, more than half of the electorate, are yet to hear from the presidential candidates specific proposals that speak to women’s priorities, which we know are being collected by their pollsters. So far, women’s issues have been noticeably absent from the YouTube appearances, the prime-time TV interviews, or the ghost-written books where presidential runners sell their experiences and attributes as part of their eligibility package...