O Obsession

Since the election of America’s first black president, practically everything associated with Barack Obama has been examined within racial context except for the new White House dog, Bo. Barack is president, but First Lady Michelle’s speed on the popularity track is akin to a Carl Lewis blaze.

Following the G20 Summit, The Daily Beast Editor Tina Brown reported that the First Lady has overtaken Oprah Winfrey as the “inspirational It Girl and iconic female African-American role model.” Some say the comparison to the media magnate is racist but I think not. White America’s reference bank of Ivy-League educated African-American women who are polished, primped and poised remains abysmally insufficient.

The comparison stems from lack of exposure since it was only recently that whites became privy to the black elite’s existence. Colored faces of career heavy hitters are simply not piped into white audiences’ family rooms daily like O’s: White House Social Secretary Desiree Rodgers, former chief of the Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, Faye Wattleton, Center for the Advancement of Women President, and Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Bennett College’s 15th President, to name an executive few.

Of all the global stagnation, we’re implored to focus on things more important like the staggering numbers in black unemployment or diminished economic opportunity in our communities. Oprah may reign as the moneyed media queen in the U.S., but Michelle, hands down, is the globe’s royal rock.