Michelle Obama opens up about racism she faced while in the White House

Michelle Obama is once again opening up about her experiences with racism—this time by highlighting some of the examples of it she faced while she was living in the White House. During the latest episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast, the former first lady opened up about being “invisible” and going through what she says are “daily slights.”In “The Gift of Girlfriends” episode featuring Obama’s friends Kelly Dibble, Denielle Pemberton-Heard and Sharon Malone, the 56-year-old recalled several examples of times that people looked right past her or refused to acknowledge her. “What the white community doesn’t understand about being a person of colour in this nation is that there are daily slights,” she said. “In our workplaces, where people talk over you, or people don’t even see you.”[video_embed id='2017790']RELATED: Michelle Obama delivers searing speech at Democratic National Convention, Trump reacts[/video_embed]She went on to specifically highlight a time that she and Pemberton-Heard took her girls (Malia and Sasha) out for ice cream after a soccer game, and she had told the secret service to give them a bit of space so that they could go into the shop without a lot of fanfare. “There was a line, and… when I’m just a Black woman, I notice that white people don’t even see me. They’re not even looking at me,” she recalled.

For so many of us, our friendships have been critical in helping us get through our toughest days and celebrate our highest highs. So this week on The #MichelleObamaPodcast, I wanted to bring on some of my girlfriends. You’ll love them.

Listen in: https://t.co/L8FgSZYbce pic.twitter.com/FapBRGiQDc— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) August 26, 2020

“So I’m standing there with two little Black girls, another Black female adult, they’re in soccer uniforms, and a white woman cuts right in front of us to order. Like, she didn’t even see us,” she said. “The girl behind the counter almost took her order. And I had to stand up ’cause I know Denielle was like ‘Well, I’m not gonna cause a scene with Michelle Obama.’ So I stepped up and I said, ‘Excuse me? You don’t see us four people standing right here? You just jumped in line?'”Obama reveals that the woman didn’t apologize or look her in the eye. “She didn’t know it was me. All she saw was a Black person, or a group of Black people, or maybe she didn’t even see that. Because we were that invisible,” Obama added, revealing that she has a number of stories like that. “I’ve been completely incognito during the eight years in the White House. Walking the dogs on the canal, people will come up and pet my dogs, but will not look me in the eye. They don’t know it’s me,” she added. “That is so telling of how white America views people who are not like them, like we don’t exist. And when we do exist, we exist as a threat. And that’s exhausting.”Since launching her podcast at the end of July, Obama has used her platform to highlight her experiences with racism in light of the growing protests and calls for change that have grown louder and more urgent following the deaths of Black citizens like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police.“I have to say, that waking up to the news, waking up to how this administration has or has not responded, waking up to, yet another, story of a Black man or a Black person somehow being dehumanized, or hurt or killed, or, falsely accused of something, it is exhausting. And it has led to a weight, that I haven’t felt in my life in a while,” she revealed on the August 5 episode “Protests and the Pandemic” with her guest, journalist Michelle Norris.In this latest episode Obama added that one thing that’s helped get her through these challenging times has been her girlfriends (hence the episode title). “My girlfriend group, while it is diverse, it has been so important for me to have Black women in my crew,” she said. “There’s just a certain relief that comes when you don’t have to walk into your friend group and explain yourself… My group of female friends aren’t calling me to say, ‘What can I do?’ They’re calling me to say, ‘How you doin’ girl? Let’s talk.'”[video_embed id='1969678']Before you go: Obama pens essay on how to bring about real change[/video_embed]