by Deb Longley

Created on: May 30, 2008

We are a funny species. We are full of contradictions, most of which we cannot see. Unless they are manifested in someone else. Especially someone very different from us. And more public. And maybe black.

Is that fair? To "play the race card" as they say. (And they say it much too often.) It has become such a cliche that the mere suggestion that race plays a part in our perceptions of a figure such as Michelle Obama is an opening for the charge of racism. But is it racism? Is there any one of us in this nation that has not noticed she is black? And if we have noticed it, then our perceptions of her are, at least in part, informed by our pre-conceptions of black people and our deep seated feelings about black people. And these pre-conceptions and feelings are as varied and colorful as our population.

Some of us hear the "for the first time in my adult life" comment and become enraged. Those people respond with accusations and assumptions, not only about her, but about her husband, her family, her community and her people. Why? Because their mistrust was present from the outset. This was all the proof needed to defend their pre-existing opinions that she and he and they are not to be trusted.

Some of us hear the "for the first time in my adult life" comment and know exactly what she means. We say to ourselves, "Ooh, she could have phrased that one better." But we identify with the sentiment that lives behind the statement. Her impulse was one of pride and gratitude. Was it the first time in her adult life she felt proud of her country? If that was true it would be a hell of a surprise to me. But she said it. It is part of the record of this campaign and has become a tiny piece of the vast body of verbiage that now permanently exists as the 2008 Barack Obama run for the presidency of the United States.

Most of us get away with the stupid things we say. Most of us get to take them back, explain ourselves, become forgiven. Most of us say our stupid things while looking someone else in the eye, rather than the camera. And when someone says something stupid to you or me, we get the chance to hear them say "I am sorry, I did not mean that." And we then get to say, "I know you didn't, because I know you." But Michelle Obama made her mistake in front of a camera, in front of a nation of strangers, and it was in front of a camera that she apologized and asked to be understood. Most of us, I think, did understand.

But some felt that she isn't just anybody, and her words were

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