Former First Lady Michelle Obama is using her national book tour as a sort of therapeutic cleansing of her issues with white people. Watch the entire episode below.
“Let me explain something to white people,” she said at one point during a live conversation with Tracee Ellis Ross at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Obama was lamented about how Americans don’t seem to appreciate black hair styles.
“Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern, so when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness,” Obama said, referring to white people.
“That’s why so many of us can’t swim, and we run away from the water,” she added. “People won’t go to the gym because we’re trying to keep our hair straight for y’all.”
Are white people really that obsessed with black hair styles?
“It is exhausting and it’s so expensive and it takes up so much time,” Obama said. “Braids are for y’all so we can work harder and focus on the work.”
“So why do we need an act, an act of law to tell white folks to get out of our hair? Don’t, don’t tell me how to wear my hair. Don’t wonder about it. Don’t touch it. Just don’t,” she added.
Would it be inappropriate to ask Obama why she culturally appropriates white hairstyles?