While guest hosting The Laura Ingram Show Monday, radio host Tammy Bruce made some disparaging comments about First Lady Michelle Obama. Here are a few excerpts from the commentary (courtesy of Media Matters).
BRUCE: But here's Michelle Obama explaining to some kids what it was like for her growing up because she sounded like a white person, whatever that means.
OBAMA [audio clip]: I did do my best, getting good grades was always important to me, and it wasn't because my parents were -
BRUCE: It's all about her.
OBAMA [audio clip]: -- hounding me or that they had the expectation, it was just something that I wanted for myself. I wanted an A. And I didn't care whether it was cool, ‘cause I remember there were kids around my neighborhood who would say, "Ooh, you talk funny, you talk like a white girl." I heard that growing up my whole life, and I was like I don't even know what that means, but you know what? I'm still getting my A.
BRUCE: What? What? What -- what is that? And then she devolves into that weird fake accent, like Hillary did when talking to black people. What? What is that? That's, that -- you know what that is.
DAVID AFTER DENTIST [audio clip]: Is this going to be forever?
BRUCE: Yeah, that - remember nitrous oxide kid, on You Tube. No it's not going to be forever, nitrous oxide kid. It's not. Can you -- can you believe that?
OBAMA [audio clip]: So do I need to introduce myself?
BRUCE: What a shame. That must've just ruined her damn day. "I wanted the A for myself, and I wanted to do it, and ooh, they said you sounded like a white person, I don't know what that means, but uhh." Huh?
Man, oh, man. That's who he's married to, what does that tell you? This is what we've got -- you know what we've got? We've got trash in the White House. Trash is a, is a thing that is color blind, it can cross all eco -- ecosocionomic kind of categories, you can work on Wall Street or work at the Wal-Mart. Trash are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy.
Or, you can listen to the audio clip for your listening displeasure.
As a woman of color, I am not surprised by this hateful rhetoric. The Obamas, Michelle Obama in particular, have been the epitome of intelligence and class since the day they stepped on the national stage. Nonetheless, all Ms. Bruce sees (and countless others like her) is "trash."
Comments such as the ones Ms. Bruce made are very telling about a person. Oftentimes, revealing a person's underlying bias or racist feelings. As such, it is quite obvious that no matter how intelligent, accomplished or refined Ms. Obama is, Ms. Bruce (and others like her) are only capable of seeing "trash" (read = N-word) simply because those wonderful attributes came wrapped in brown skin. This was the case during slavery, forced segregation (Jim Crow) and the civil rights era.......and it remains the case today.
All Ms. Bruce proved with her comment is that SHE is the real trash!
