In her Detroit Free Press column, Rochelle Riley writes that people accusing Michelle Obama of being an angry black lady have likely never met one. She describes a litany of battles that would mold an angry woman, and none of them define the first lady.
… And the juvenile attacks on the first lady go too far. Here's the real truth: No one trying to portray Michelle Obama as an angry black woman has probably ever seen one.
I'm talking the kind of anger that comes from having to be the soul of your family because America is used to trampling on your husband's.
I'm talking the kind of anger that comes from lowered expectations for your children, which makes them have to work twice as hard.
I'm talking about a glass ceiling that impairs all women, but drops to the right so that black women hit it first.
I'm talking the kind of anger that comes from seeing racism — true, 1950s-style racism — play itself out in Washington and America in the 21st Century and you, as was done millions of times during this country's Jim Crow era — smile stoically and rise above it.
… Michelle Obama deserves better. We should demand better. And women across America should send a message to the 11-year-olds in Congress and state houses and other places where they are embarrassing their constituents with name-calling and juvenile antics. Don't make us take off our earrings.
Read Rochelle Riley's entire column at the Detroit Free Press.