Yesterday, at the Obama Foundation summit in Chicago, Obama recounted her experiences as a youngster, lamenting that “white folks moved out” when her family moved into the neighborhood. She said that her “upstanding” family was “doing everything we were supposed to do and better.” The fault lies with the white families who “were afraid of what our families represented.” Her comments could easily be construed as racist for she claimed her African American was “better” than the white folks leaving the neighborhood.  

Not only did she scold former white neighbors, she also reprimanded the white people in the audience saying that “y’all were running from us.” Obviously, she believes “white flight” is still occurring all over the country, as immigrants and blacks move into new neighborhoods.

Ironically, Mrs. Obama does not practice what she preaches. It was reported that, along with her husband, the former First Lady bought a $15 million mansion in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

There are not too many African American and immigrant families in the tony enclave of Martha’s Vineyard. Is Michelle Obama “running” from less fortunate families by moving to such a fancy neighborhood? For $15 million, Barack and Michelle Obama could have donated to causes helping thousands of less fortunate African American and immigrant families. For $15 million, they could have bought dozens of homes in inner cities around the country to serve as positive role models and inspiration to residents.

Instead, they used their money to join the white liberals in Martha’s Vineyard, escaping from crime ridden urban areas around the country.

Sadly, Michelle Obama is a hypocrite who is obsessed with stoking racial tensions and lamenting racism in the country, while practicing the convenient elitism of her white liberal colleagues.

At the summit, Mrs. Obama claimed she was trying to “pick away from the scabs of discrimination,” which is very true. As any child knows, you should never pick at a scab, for it may get infected and lengthen the recovery period from a wound. Mrs. Obama loves to pick at scabs to make sure the racial wounds do not heal. She is not trying to end racism; she is obviously benefitting from the perception of prevalent racism.

In contrast to Michelle Obama’s viewpoint, race relations are much better today than at any time in American history. In recent years, race relations have improved so much that an unqualified African American named Barack Obama could be elected President of the United States without proper vetting from the news media. Instead of harsher treatment, Barack Obama received preferential treatment due to his race.

Michelle Obama will never admit the truth, but race was not a hindrance in her “becoming” First Lady, it was a tremendous benefit.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com