This is getting crazy. I'm getting tired of this BS.
Yesterday, Fox News ran a clip calling Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama". Unbelievable. Most people wouldn't imagine that something so disrespectful would be used to classify a woman who, according to all recent polls has a very good chance of being our First Lady in a few months.
"Baby mama" is a term that implies the "inconvenience" of having a child out of wedlock. It assumes no real formal ties, no relationship, no unity. It's almost as if they called her a whore on national television. From fellow blogger Too Sense:
"And it's really true. You can be an Ivy League grad two times over, married with two wonderful children, and some people still can't see you past the color of your skin to see you as a human being."
Using that term to identify a married, professional woman (let alone someone who will probably will First Lady) is disrespectful, condescending and a slap in the face to husbands and wives who have spent years working on their marriage. It is a slap to the children involved. For them to have the audacity to go out of their way to use that term so casually without merit and completely inapplicable, articulates how they devalue and discredit black family units. We're not husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. We're only a bunch of baby daddys and baby mamas.
This is much worse than describing their "knuckle punch" as a "terrorist fist-jab". This is a bigoted personal attack against black families in general.
This is more than partisan politics. They wouldn't dare use that term to describe Laura or Barbara Bush. Would they use it to describe Hillary Clinton? Why is it okay to use it with Michelle Obama?
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This is more than partisan politics. They wouldn't dare use that term to describe Laura or Barbara Bush. Would they use it to describe Hillary Clinton? Why is it okay to use it with Michelle Obama?
I feel that disrespect is not limited to Michelle Obama. I feel that we as African-Americans only get offended when we can relate to the victim at hand. For example, last year's debacle with the Rutgers' women's team only got attention because the girls were educated. We as a society have been silent about uneducated girls being valued for the potential Queens that they are as well.
It's like if you don't fit in, you don't matter. And that's why I feel the whole Michelle Obama Baby Mama drama is a bit overdone. It's like Fox News baited her supporters to show their emotional side.
Plus, who are we to judge women who have babies out of wedlock? Is Michelle Obama too good to be called a baby mama even jokingly?
Black folks continue to set invisible standards based on class, and to this day, it still sickens me. (By the way, I'm a 23 year old MBA candidate who lives in the 'hood and has no job- so I see life both ways).
GREAT BLOG!
Point taken Zack. But, this is more than an issue about being overly sensitive. This is a matter of the #1 rated cable news station showing a tremendous level of DISRESPECT to our soon to be First Lady.
They wouldn't dare minimize their familial units in that manner. For some reason they felt cozy enough to describe Michelle that way.
Being a single mother is one thing. I'm not judging them. However, it's not what most people strive for. But, they didn't say that. They used the lowest common denominator. Most single mothers probably wouldn't prefer to be described that way.
Glad ur checking out the blog.
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