Former first lady Michelle Obama said on Friday’s broadcast of “CBS This Morning” that people take to the street in Black Lives Matter protests because they had to.
When former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd, former President Barack and Michelle Obama said in a joint statement, “true justice is about much more than a single verdict in a single trial.”
When asked about her statement, Obama said, “The goal is to let leaders lead. But in certain times, people, you know, look to us often. ‘Well, what do you think? How do you feel?’ We know that while we’re all breathing a sigh of relief over the verdict, there’s still work to be done. And so we, we can’t sort of say, ‘Great. That happened. Let’s move on.’ I know that people in the Black community don’t feel that way because many of us still live in fear as we go to the grocery store, or walking our dogs, or allowing our children to get a license.”
Anchor Gayle King said, “Aren’t your girls driving?”
Obama said, “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 in their head and makes an assumption. I, like so many parents of black kids, have to — the innocent act of getting a license puts fear in our hearts.”
She added, “So, 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 we don’t wanna be out there marching. 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.”
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