“...Part of it is culture and the effect of bad government policy. I have no problem with Michelle attending and speaking at such an event.”
Your point is well taken. My concern is with Michelle reinforcing the message (even if couched in “positivity”) that race is what defines these girls, that they are part of a group because they are black.
Laura Bush would never have gone to an event and declared that “White girls rock”. This isn’t due to reverse racism. No one in our society would ever think to group all white girls together because of their race. It is understood that there are all sorts of white girls, with varying backgrounds, abilities and potentials.
To me this is the great crime of “Progressives”, the unending drumbeat that if you’re black you are part of a defined group - there’s only one way you should think, only one way you should vote.
Right, and I understand that.
But those young black girls do face a black-specific reality in terms of perceived beauty and practical mating options that is very challenging. I can’t really fault generally harmless efforts to give them more support to fight the negative culture they grow up in.
PS Some Freepers condemn the Obamas for not doing more to specifically address the dysfunction in the black community.
(I condemn them for their politics.)