During a recent interview with CBS This Morning, former First Lady Michelle Obama opened up about the concerns she has over the safety of her two daughters, 22-year-old Malia and 19-year-old Sasha.
Malia and Sasha are now licensed to drive, but given the number of police brutality incidents and shootings across the country — she receives little comfort knowing they are out there on the road.
“They’re driving, but every time they get in a car by themselves, I worry about what assumption is being made by somebody who doesn’t know everything about them—the fact that they are good students and polite girls, but maybe they’re playing their music a little loud. Maybe somebody sees the back of their head and makes an assumption,” Obama said.
“Like so many parents of Black kids … the innocent act of getting a license puts fear in our hearts,” she added. “I think we have to talk about it more and we have to ask our fellow citizens to listen a bit more and to believe us and to know that we don’t want to be out there marching.”
Obama then spoke about tackling systemic racism in the country.
Black Lives Matter has become somewhat of a divisive issue around the country. While many praise the organization for mobilizing the Black community and its allies to rally against social injustice… the right has labeled the campaign as a “terrorist group.”
“We have to ask our fellow citizens to listen a bit more, and to believe us, and to know we don’t wanna be out there marchin’,” she said. “I mean, all those Black Lives Matters kids, they’d rather not have to worry about this. They’re taking to the streets because they have to. They’re trying to have people understand that we’re real folks, and the fear that many have of so many of us is irrational. And it’s based on a history that is just, it’s sad and it’s dark. And it’s time for us to move beyond that.”
