Michelle Obama says being ‘othered’ made her want to be ‘the best first lady’

The Hill ^ | 04/03/2023 | Judy Kurtz

[Vermont Lt]

My mother taught second grade. For 35 years.

There are very few kids that she “liked” enough to remember a couple of years after they left her class. But, she taught them all the basics of reading and math.

People are so concerned with feeling liked, they miss the point.

[Rdct29]

I'm pretty sure you are still being other-ed Mike. Most kids who grow up with two parents don't need to look to teachers for feelings of self worth. They get enough of that at home from their parents. I went to school to learn, not wait for teachers to tell me I was special.

[Albion Wilde]

Didn’t help, though.

[Chewbarkah]

I risk getting the Peggy Noonan Award for saying this, but I feel sorry for Michelle Obama. She obviously felt patronized and marginalized as a child, and likely as an adult, despite attending Princeton and serving for eight years as “First Lady”. Her bitterness over it has ruined her life, and it shapes her political attitudes. It would be interesting to know whether she came to view herself as looked down upon via her own perceptions, or whether someone gave her the gift of victimhood, resentment, and self-hatred. Most black people have been insulted, belittled, ignored, etc., at some time or the other, and the hurt from that lingers. Fortunately for them, most seem able to rise above it but you can’t see inside peoples’ souls.

[Lee25]

English is not my native language. Reading from her remarks in the article is “smarter than smart” right English? I never encounter such an expression. Kind of feel it’s repeated somehow

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Well, don't tell him or you will never hear the end of it.

Once people start thinking they are broken they become broken records and never shut up about it.

[Tax-chick]

Heh, so true.

[NorthMountain]

being “othered” as a child

To the girls, a boy is "other".

[NorthMountain]

They basically made her into the black Jackie Kennedy.

Hah! They tried.

They failed.

Miserably.

[mass55th]

I’m sure Michael felt “othered” when his Mama made him wear his older brother Craig’s hand-me-downs.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Still “Ghetto “

[Runner4life]

“They don’t know your struggle”

I’m sure she said it as “shtruggle” It’s always “shtruggle” with her.

[fortes fortuna juvat]

Yeah, and she was such a good one too!

[cymbeline]

I won’t argue with her premise of believing in yourself and not looking for outside validation.

But when she says, “There are people who don’t even know you exist. They don’t even know your pain. They don’t know your struggle”, I say they don’t know of my existence, pain and struggle either but I don’t expect them to and don’t care.

And no one needs to be told to think of themselves as an “other”. That is not inspiring. It is passing the buck.

[depressed in 06]

What a failure.

[dsrtsage]

Over the years, I have come to understand the meaning of the word marginalized to actually mean…adds nothing and contributes no positive value to the group

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

She was one of the worst. A grifter.

[Vaduz]

“othered”

[dfwgator]

Just like black people can’t be “racist”, white people can’t be “othered”, in their world.

[SharpRightTurn]

I have never heard of anyone with such a chip on their shoulder. She’s really had a tough life.