Michelle Obama: People Have Tried To Paint Me As 'Some Angry Black Woman'

WASHINGTON -- First lady Michelle Obama challenged assertions she's forcefully imposed her will on White House aides, saying she's tired of people portraying her as "some kind of angry black woman."

"I guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here and a strong woman and--you know? But that's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced, that I'm some angry black woman," she said to CBS' Gayle King.

Mrs. Obama told CBS News she hasn't read New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor's new book, which characterizes her as a behind-the-scenes force in the Executive Mansion whose strong views often draw her into conflict with President Barack Obama's top advisers.

She said she cares deeply about her husband and that is "one of his biggest confidants." But Mrs. Obama also said she doesn't read books about "other people's impressions of people."

"I never read these books. There are so many books that have my picture on the cover, my name on it, I don't even know what's going on," she said. "Who can write about how I feel? What third person can tell me about how I feel?"

Kantor writes, "Michelle and Rahm Emanuel had almost no bond; their relationship was distant and awkward from the beginning. She had been skeptical of him when he was selected, and now he returned the favor; he was uneasy about first ladies in general, several aides close to him said, based on clashes with Hillary Clinton in the 1990s that became so severe that she had tried to fire him from her husband's administration."

Asked specifically about an assertion of dissension between herself and then-chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, she says she's has "never had a cross word" with him.

She added that Emanuel and his wife are "some of our dearest friends."

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[LoHaze]

05:49 PM on 01/22/2012

The author is an Obama admirer and supporter. This book was NOT a hit-piece. She's been interviewed on C-Span and has nothing but admiration for them. I don't understand the disconnect: I'm assuming Michelle read the book, though maybe she didn't and just relied on others info?

[patters85]

08:32 AM on 01/13/2012

All of the conservatives are spewing the angry talk but somehow the "black first lady" is the angry one! Thank you for making me respect Michelle Obama even more. Just admit that you hate black people and all the puzzle pieces fit. We have watched the three years of hate coming from a group of white people that just happen to be republican. We recognize the call signs of racists. WE see how easy it is to dismiss Bush's $10 trillion dollar debt. We see the commonality. Michelle and Barrack Obama 2012. They aren't good because they are black. They are good and they are black. Why are republicans so bad?

[Niasia]

03:46 PM on 01/12/2012

I can't believe the people being so naive. Why can't she just say "angry woman" oh come on! You know the stereotype and it's sad. They like to do that if we object to our treatment you know like the times we are blatantly ignored, disrespected or made to wait while white men pass on the sidewalk. The world can be a cruel place for a woman who happens to be black and you'd better not odject or you WILL be painted as angry...that's their (black men too) way of dismissing our issues. It's sad indeed. It's bad enough to be a woman and then you add black to it, you better buckle up for the ride kiddo. My poor sister is just getting into the work world and has called me several times upset about her treatment, and unfortuantely all I can say is well just ignore them and go about your day it's just how it is, because if you address it they will label you as angry or problematic even though they are treating you rudely. Yet here it's 2012 and we're post racial and the FLOTUS should have said angry woman yeah ok!

[janedorothy4]

12:49 PM on 01/12/2012

Why did she say angry black woman instead of just angry woman. Not one of my African American friends has ever used the word black when we were talking. We just have fun and get along and there is no reason to discuss our differences when there are so many things about us that are the same.

[marinemomof3]

03:56 PM on 01/12/2012

"when there are so many things about us that are the same.”

What is different?

[patters85]

08:34 AM on 01/13/2012

Weak minds and personal doubt.

[Monty21]

03:11 PM on 02/07/2012

Entitlement

[Triniman65]

05:19 PM on 01/12/2012

I am so glad that you have taken Rodney Kings advice - "Can't we all just get along?"

[Yank in France]

06:28 AM on 01/12/2012

Michelle Obama is a princess whose noble sentiments are reflected in her soft language when speaking of her adversaries. She is sweet, kind and giving, … and overly generous with her adversaries.

In contrast, I do not suffer from such restraints!

So please allow me to put myself in Michelle Obama’s shoes (or dress! -J) just this once!

Instead of "people", let’s say "hordes of sweaty white racists want to categorize me as an angry Black woman because I do not think like they do!

As the Grateful Dead song goes, they “have eyes but just can’t see”. For those who cherry picked my comment about “for once, I am proud to be an American", I can only say: look at the context!

But first, rest assured: Don’t take my comment literally; it was just a spontaneous reaction to seeing so many millions of white people vote for a black man for the highest office of our land!

As a descendant of African slaves, that was and remains a highly moving and positive experience.
From a black person’s viewpoint: when whites were celebrating the victory at Yorkstown in 1781, our black ancestors were still slaving (literally) on their masters' plantations! We were not allowed to celebrate, even if we wanted to!

When the slaves were finally "freed" in 1864, after a brief and truly liberating period of Reconstruction, we were sent into a terrifying wilderness where we were treated like sub-humans wherever we went in America! 

Would you really expect a black American to say he was “proud to be an American” back then?

Then we had the civil rights battles of the 1930s and later in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, when we made huge gains. But still over half of the African-American population languishes today in the worst ghettos to be found anywhere in the developed world!

To my fellow Americans who have never had to contend with 350 years of brutal racism, all I can say is that 2008 represented a real breakthrough for us African-Americans. I hope you do not judge us for our emotion response, but I also make no apologies whatsoever for my feelings.

After all, for all the love I feel for Americans of all races, I live by the adage:

“Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

[iamwomanofcolor]

12:18 PM on 01/12/2012

wonderful post...thank you...f&f

[Yank in France]

04:10 PM on 01/12/2012

Thank you for your kind thoughts, womanofcolor. I have enormous admiration for Michelle Obama and I empathize with her. Along with Hillary Clinton, she is by far and away the most intelligent, most competent and most political savvy First Lady America has ever had.

It must be extremely frustrating for her to be told to mind to the curtains and keep out of her husband's business after accompanying, aiding and counseling him these many long years!

Moreover, if the above report about her disagreement with Rahm Emmanuel are true, it only confirms my intuitive belief from the beginning that her voice is needed more than ever. She may not be a political operative with a pulse on population segments, but she knows what needs to be done!

F&Fed to you too, with pleasure!

[Harlanmaine]

10:45 PM on 01/12/2012

This is the most self-congratulatory garbage I have ever read. The musings of a faux intellectual. Stick to the victimhood script. It helps you to avoid any type of accountability for your life or actions.

[patters85]

08:49 AM on 01/13/2012

It really hurts you to know that race is not as big an issue as racists make it out to be Huh! The world is evolving and so is America. This country was created with diversity in mind. Your pitiful weak mindset is your downfall. If not you then your descendents. This will be a diverse nation and there is nothing that you can do about it. Ruining the economy didn't work and neither will blaming the people you hate. The best thing to happen to this country since it was stolen is that finally minorities will be the majority one day soon. You are living in the final days of white superiority over something as trivial as race. It's not a choice it a fact!

[Lynn Bird]

05:22 AM on 01/12/2012

Who'd be a first lady? If you don't blend in with the drapes, you're considered controversial. Michelle Obama may find critics in America but globally she is simply loved.

[rougnz]

04:35 AM on 01/12/2012

The thing is Michelle Obama is incredibly popular so she is being made a target. It is the nasty nasty world of politics and in the US we see some of the most nastiest politics as a large part of the American population is so easily manipulated in their beliefs.

[One Nation]

12:41 AM on 01/12/2012

It is very unfortunate and degrading that success and independence for a woman of color is met in the workplace and in public service with this demeaning stereotype - you must be angry - We work hard to achieve and our reward is ridicule. I call on all well meaning Americans to reject this characterization that is increasingly used to debase minority women who are struggling to make it in the workplace and beyond.

[Hong Kong Fooey]

11:32 PM on 01/11/2012

You know I remember when Laura Bush was in the White House.

She used to go around saying how everyone though she was an Angry White Woman.

What again does race have to do with the first ladies temperament?

[Yank in France]

07:54 AM on 01/12/2012

I don't recall people saying Laura Bush was an angry white women, but I do remember Nancy Reagan saying:

Just say no to drugs!!

I suggest you follow her advice. -:)

[Hong Kong Fooey]

08:56 AM on 01/12/2012

All that set up for that joke.

Ooooof. Not good.

[Monty21]

03:18 PM on 02/07/2012

To have a woman like Nancy Reagan in the Whitehouse again would truly be a blessing!!! She wouldn't have gone onto any TV show crying that people were calling her mean. She had far to much class.

[Americanwoman55]

11:30 PM on 01/11/2012

So the author never actually interviewed the First Lady and just wrote gossip about the woman.

Shameful gossip about backroom nothing. so this whole book is based on nothing but gossip from third hand knowledge. This is what passes today for writing. Sad very sad.

Mrs Obama is the First Lady , a great first lady, well spoken , well educated, If the author had any ethics she would have had the courage and ethics to approach the First lady and not act like a cockroach and skirry around gathering up third hand garbage to produce gossip to sell a book.

[Americanwoman55]

11:23 PM on 01/11/2012

This author is a sad excuse for a writer as is a publisher.
to write about a family and couple you know nothing about is ridiculous.
This is a gossip book.

[wackylady]

10:49 PM on 01/11/2012

Don't worry, you will probably all "take back your country" from us colored folk.

[alicam]

12:13 AM on 01/14/2012

As if it belongs to them in the first place.

[wackylady]

10:46 PM on 01/11/2012

The hateful comments indicate just how much you folks dislike the President and his family. Right up there with the "take back our country"

[DeanWormer]

10:44 PM on 01/11/2012

Thanks for confirming it for us, FLOTUS.

[mybeep1]

10:38 PM on 01/11/2012

I see HP is making this story hard to find whereas Yahoo and other sites have it above the fold on their home page.

So, Michelle is angry that someone says she is angry?
Notice the race card is thrown. No one mentioned race. If M.O. said she is tired of being painted as an angry woman, fine. Who is calling her an angry black woman?
She is awfully dismissive of a story/book that she claims not to have read. How does she know of its accuracy without reading it.

The political advisors had to be cringing when this came out.