Michelle Obama Says 'No One Is Feeling Content And Hopeful And Optimistic With This President'

The one-two punch of coronavirus and multiple police shootings of innocent Black men in America has highlighted a lack of leadership, Obama explained. "We continue to be mindful of the folks where this period of time has been painful and it has involved loss and sorrow and sadness. And it wasn't just togetherness and it wasn't just a time to reflect," she said. "It was painful and continues to be that way without the leadership that we need to get us out of this situation."

Here, a few of the political highlights from Obama's conversation with Robinson, including what went wrong in the 2016 election and why young people give her hope:

On 2020's Racial Reckoning:

"We have to acknowledge this is this is hard. These are sad, tough times. So many of us, particularly for Black folks, particularly for Black women, we're always looking for a way to rise above it. How do we just push past it? And sometimes stuff shouldn't be pushed past. Sometimes we need to sit in that place and own the fact that we're sad and down because things are in a in an ugly place. So that these feelings that we have, these emotions that we have are real and legitimate. I think that it starts with owning that it's OK for us not to be OK during a time when we're seeing our sons and daughters being shot in the back and folks questioning whether a Black life matters or seeing peaceful protesters tear gassed and viewed as a threat.

You know, young people who are just trying to ask for some peace and justice (are) being met with contempt and fear. I mean, that puts you in a place when so many of us have given so much to this country. Where we felt like we've lived a life where we've shown our fellow citizens that we as Black folks, we as brown folks, we as women, whatever our sexual orientation is, that we care deeply about this country. And just because we ask for things to be better, that we should be viewed as un-American or threat—that hurts. Being in that position is hurtful and is disappointing, alright? So let's name it and claim it and say, 'No, you're not crazy for feeling that way.'"

On The 2016 Election:

"There are a lot of people in this election who didn't really like Hillary (Clinton). She wasn't quite enough or they thought, 'You know, my candidate didn't win in the primary. What does it matter?' Some people who said, 'I don't know about, you know, why don't we just give this guy Trump a chance? What could it hurt? What could we lose?' Right? And here we sit four years later with some clear answers to many of those questions.

The leader of the free world has power is words matter. The way they approach every issue impacts not just this country, but the world. And we are living through the consequences of people deciding maybe I won't do it."

On Racial Progress After Obama's Two Terms:

"We haven't fixed everything. But if you had to pick a time in history to be a Black person in America, I'd pick today every time. If I looked over the course of American history. and I had a choice of when to wake up in the morning and what year to wake up it would be today, so that I have to keep that in mind. Fortunately, I have a husband who is a historian and knows and and believes in truth and fact that can help remind me of that."

"Look, in 2008 and again in 2012, this country elected Barack Hussein Obama as the President of the United States. That happened and it was this country. And it was because people voted and it was because people of different backgrounds and races voted for the same vision and then they did it again. So we have it in us. One could say that maybe we got a little complacent, you know, maybe things felt a little too good. So we started taking things for granted, you know, that maybe things we were already on our rocket ship shooting towards equality and justice, that racism was over. That that white folks had proven to themselves and Black folks that, you know, racism was a thing of the past. Well, we knew that wasn't it. We know that it change takes time. You know that if we're not vigilant and that we're not consistent about it, that we can slide right back."

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On Finding Hope In Young Voters:

"We're seeing kids of all backgrounds rising up against this injustice because of how they were raised. They were raised during a time when all of us believed in the possibility of equality, where their president was Barack Obama, where the country was moving in the right direction. We taught them to have values and empathy and compassion. We taught them about equality and fairness. And now they're living a different truth and they will not stand for it. I think that older folks like us need to understand that we raised them to want better. So now they do and now they're not going to go backwards.

I think it would be hard for somebody in their 20's to go back to the way things were. You know, they've seen too much. They've experienced the joy of diversity, the possibility of living in a broader, fuller society. And I'm not just talking about race, but I'm talking about culture. You know, I'm talking about music and food. I mean, America is a melting pot and our kids have tasted from the the fruits of that pot. And it tastes good, you know? "

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Savannah WalshEditorial FellowSavannah Walsh is an Editorial Fellow at ELLE.com.
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