Michelle Obama Unveils Portrait at the White House: ‘A Girl Like Me’ Was Not ‘Supposed to’ Be First Lady

Former first lady Michelle Obama indicated Wednesday that as a black woman, she was never meant to serve as first lady of the United States of America.

“A girl like me, she was never supposed to be up there next to Jaqueline Kennedy and Dolly Madison,” she said. “She was never supposed to live in this house and she definitely wasn’t supposed to serve as first lady.”

The former first lady spoke as she joined her husband, President Barack Obama, to unveil their official portraits at the White House on Wednesday.

She said she often wondered about who was responsible for creating the “supposed tos” in American life.

“Too often in this country people feel like they have to look a certain way or act a certain way to fit in,” she said.

“If the two of us can end up on the walls of the most famous address in the world, then again it is so important for every young kid who is doubting themselves to believe that they can too,” she said.

Michelle Obama, a graduate of Princeton and Harvard, insisted that it was “not about blood, or pedigree, or wealth” to succeed in the United States.

She said it was “a bit odd” seeing a “big beautiful painting staring back at me,” adding she “never could have imagined” that it would be part of her story.

“Even if it is all still a bit awkward for me I do recognize why moments like these are important,” she said.