First Lady: Don’t Forget What Obama Has Meant for Race and Same-Sex Marriage

The chatter about President Barack Obama's legacy has already begun, and Michelle Obama is leading the charge, offering a glimpse into just how proud she is of what her husband has accomplished thus far as president. Suggested Reading The Root 100 – 2021 The Root 100 – 2022 The Root 100 – 2023 Video will…

The chatter about President Barack Obama's legacy has already begun, and Michelle Obama is leading the charge, offering a glimpse into just how proud she is of what her husband has accomplished thus far as president.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach
Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach

“[J]ust think about how different our country looks to children growing up today,” the first lady said in a speech last week to the Women’s Leadership Fund Conference in Washington, D.C.

“Think about how our kids take for granted that a black person or a woman can be president of the United States,” she continued.

Michelle Obama also made reference to the president’s Supreme Court appointees and the efforts during his term to bring the nation’s discrimination against same-sex marriage to an end. “[Our kids] take it for granted that for the first time in history, there are three brilliant women serving on our Supreme Court. They take for granted that their president will end hurtful policies like ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’; they’ll speak out for gay marriage.”

Republicans often make fun of the president’s “change” slogan from his 2008 campaign in order to suggest that not much has changed, but the first lady begs to differ. “When folks ask me whether I still believe everything we said about change and hope back in 2008, I tell them that I believe it more strongly now than ever before, because, look, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

Michelle Obama went on to applaud the president’s economic record, saying that “overall unemployment is the lowest it’s been” and that Obama’s policies have “cut our deficit by more than half.”

Read first lady Michelle Obama’s full speech here.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.