Michelle Obama and Patriotism In America: When Has National Pride Come Before Racial (In)Dignity? – Between the Lines

Though we know the Republican “right-wing” conspiracy is still out there, and the so-called “progressive” Democrats with passive-aggressive racial tendencies, who vote Republican when convenient, are still out there – you get the impression that many white Americans are prepared to be fair and do what’s right (two adjectives that can be rarely used to describe America’s relationship with Blacks) in this Presidential election. While we must continue to point out the social ills and economic disparities associated with the vestiges of America’s historical race caste system, it somehow makes it more difficult to criticize a nation that seems to be trying to do the right thing.

So when Michelle Obama said what she said, every black person in America knew exactly what she meant. It was never about not loving her country. It was about America being ready to finally, finally – two generations (40 years) after the assassination of the last man to call for America to be true to its promise, one generation (20 years) after an African American mounted the first serious challenge for President – to make good on its creed that all men are created equal.

However, many in America are trying to rise above it, and that’s something to be proud of. Despite our doubts about whether it is really going to happen, Blacks in America are witnessing the rest of America trying to overcome its racial and cultural past, and that’s something to be “really” proud of. In a moment of candor, even the candidate’s wife had to acknowledge that what she’s witnessing, given America’s past, is unbelievable.