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In her latest interview, former first lady Michelle Obama talked about what life has been like in the aftermath of the verdict on George Floyd’s murder. Speaking with Gayle King, Obama said that she worries about the racism her daughters Malia, 22, and Sasha, 19, face every time they hop in the car and go out.
“We can’t sort of say, ‘Great, that happened, let’s move on,'” Obama said to King on CBS This Morning about her feelings following the news of the guilty verdict Derek Chauvin received in the George Floyd murder trial. “I know that people in the Black community don’t feel that way, because many of us still live in fear as we go to the grocery store or worry about walking our dogs or allowing our children to get a license.”
When King then interjected and asked whether Sasha and Malia were driving, Obama answered, “They’re driving, but I worry about what assumption is being made by somebody who doesn’t know everything about them — the fact that they are good students and polite girls, but maybe they’re playing their music a little loud. Maybe somebody sees the back of their head and makes an assumption.”
She continued, “I, like so many parents of Black kids… the innocent act of getting a license puts fear in our hearts. So I think we have to talk about it more and we have to ask our fellow citizens to listen a bit more and to believe us and to know that we don’t want to be out there marching.”
As she discussed all the protests that happened last year, Obama noted that many young people have been pivotal in the fight for change. She added, “All those Black Lives Matter kids, they’d rather not have to worry about this. They’re taking to the streets because they have to. They’re trying to have people understand that we’re real folks. And the fear that many have of so many of us is irrational and it’s based on a history that is sad and it’s dark, and it’s time for us to move beyond that.”
See the clip down below.
