• GAZLO
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES
• BUSINESSES

Floodgates open on the trashing of Michelle

During the historic Democratic primaries, the media enjoyed provoking a phony debate about which was harder to overcome in American society—racism or sexism.

Neither is acceptable. But it’s now apparent the most scurrilous attacks of all were being saved up for a black woman on track to become the nation’s first African-American first lady.

Never mind that Michelle Obama, like her husband, is a brilliant Harvard Law School graduate or that she is a successful administrator in one of the nation’s leading hospitals and the mother of two terrific little girls.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama writes in his book, “The Audacity of Hope,” that he is used to being told by people who have worked with Michelle on a project or heard her speak, “You know I think the world of you, Barack, but your wife—wow!”

People all over America, black and white, let their young children stay up late to see history being made the night Obama clinched the nomination. It was impossible not to smile as Barack and Michelle celebrated before 20,000 cheering Iowans, and Michelle gave her husband a playful fist bump.

Even sheltered whites who weren’t familiar with the gesture couldn’t mistake the love and exuberance. Across America, tears welled up.

It wasn’t until the next day that TV viewers started seeing replays of those two fists in slow motion. It was reminiscent of that jerky, slow motion video of Jack Ruby moving out of the crowd to murder Lee Harvey Oswald after the Kennedy assassination.

Then, TV viewers started hearing the instant media experts “analyzing” the layers of sinister meaning behind the exotic black ritual that millions foolishly thought was simply a proud and loving wife saying, “You go, baby.”

It culminated with one of those interchangeable Fox News anchorettes, a young woman of no discernable journalistic talents, picking up a Republican Internet attack line to refer to this strange new form of communication between black people as a “terrorist fist jab.”

A few days later, under the guise of raising questions about the fairness of attacks on Michelle, Fox News demonstrated that no black woman in America could ever rise above being infantilized by the media. The backdrop to the contrived Fox News report was one of those graphic headlines: “Outraged liberals: Stop picking on Obama’s baby mama.”

Since when does a national news channel, even an extremely biased right-wing news channel, use insulting ghetto language to refer to a potential first lady of the United States?

Does the fact that Michelle Obama is black mean she no longer deserves even minimal respect from the media? Mamie Eisenhower, Pat Nixon or Laura Bush never had the legitimacy of their children questioned.

“Baby mama” is black street slang for the unmarried mother of a man’s child. Since Barack and Michelle are lovingly married, professional people on the brink of achieving the highest political office in the land, how could that phrase possibly apply to them?

Except that for racists, one black woman is pretty much like another.

Actually, racist attacks on Michelle have been going on for some time on the Internet on conservative Republican Web sites. That’s where Fox News originally got that absurd reference to a terrorist fist jab.

For weeks, right-wing Republican blogs have been promoting rumors of an explosive videotape of Michelle speaking from the pulpit of the couple’s former Chicago church, Trinity United Church of Christ, allegedly spewing hatred against “whitey.”

The Obama campaign had to start a fightthesmears.com Web site to make it clear Michelle Obama has never used that word or ever spoken from the pulpit of the black church that has been demonized by the Right for preaching that racism exists in America.

As historic as the nomination of Barack Obama is, if it were not for race, instead of trashing these admirable people, the media would be preparing us for the kind of fairy tale first family this country enjoyed when Jackie Kennedy was reshaping fashion and John-John was crawling under the president’s desk.

Joel McNally is a syndicated columnist. His e-mail address is jmcnally@wi.rr.com.