Michelle Obama Would Like Students to Monitor Family Members for Racial Insensitivity

Say what??????
You want kids to sit in judgement and 'monitor' how family/friends around them talk?
Then what---are you going to arrest Aunt Sally for dissing her neighbor?

What about freedom of speech????
Does that now mean that our views/opinions of others are now going to be controlled?

First lady Michelle Obama is encouraging students to monitor their older relatives, friends and co-workers for any racially insensitive comments they might make, and to challenge those comments whenever they’re made.

The first lady spoke on Friday to graduating high school students in Topeka, Kansas, and in remarks released over the weekend, Obama said students need to police family and friends because federal laws can only go so far in stopping racism.

Linky


Um, correct me if I'm wrong but....
Since when is being a bigot/racist against the law?

It's not, or at least it wasn't the last I remember

It's wrong and mean but not unlawful

This is up there with "If you see something say something" crap

a reply to: snarky412
Since you provided no link for this, a search found an article on The Blaze with a paragraph from that quote. That article links to this White House press release, so there's no paraphrasing involved.

I have not read the remarks yet; only providing them as a reference.

a reply to: snarky412

What is this , the Year of the Rat ? See Something , say Something . Hitler , Stalin , and Mao would be Proud of the First Misguided Lady Indeed.........

originally posted by: Greven
a reply to: snarky412
Since you provided no link for this, a search found an article on The Blaze with a paragraph from that quote. That article links to this White House press release, so there's no paraphrasing involved.

I have not read the remarks yet; only providing them as a reference.

My link is here

I just added it but not quick enough!
Sorry

One of the main agendas of the ultra-Progressive ultra-Left Wing is to break the family structure.

Michelle is emphasizing that agenda.

Good thing She's making it obvious.

Better that way than the usual hidden underground tactics.

a reply to: snarky412

students need to police family and friends

isnt that what dictators and statism is all about? Common people policing other common people for the state´s greater hold over a populace? Where did these people come from? Communist Cuba circa the 1960s where your neighbor would tell your local official snitch about the extra food rations you "stole" from the state?

The hell is wrong with these people?

Promoting the destruction of communities and the family unit much?

This presidency is the most dividing and discordious leadership we ever had. If we dont all kill each other before the Obamas are out of office we deserve "I survived" T shirts.

a reply to: snarky412


Of course!

Just like the first chosen, trained, set-up, super-thug did in prep for WW II.

Get those bright busy-eyed boys & girls ratting out their loved ones that bore them . . .

ratting loved ones out . . . in behalf of The State . . .

. . . for the children . . . and the little people . . .

and the Morlachs.

ooops. There I go again.

I get what she likely means - believing older people are racist and the kids need to challenge those beliefs but if she used the word "police" she needs to go back to school lunches to keep herself occupied. KKK type of beliefs (or whatever her extreme is) are rare. Most people have evolved with the times. My grandfather hated Japanese people when I was a child (due to his time with WWII), but he changed his perceptions, and when he died did not believe like that any longer. Frame of reference - changes over time.

Racism is not just an older person thing. In fact, studies are clear on even trying to teach young children to be aware of, and to not see self as different, thereby bypassing attributional errors (i.e.: see self as better or worse based on those differences). Teaching them did not stop this. Conclusions drawn from multiple studies show us much of this is unconscious and simply a part of being human.

What would be good to teach, based on research, is that people are always comparing and contrasting as a way to understand how they fit into the world. Sometimes people contrast more than compare and therefore develop strong opinions and judgements. Sometimes those judgements include skin color. Sometimes they include cultural traditions. Sometimes they include socioeconomic status. Sometimes they have to do with geographical location (Bronx versus Iowa). We have these tendencies kids - so please try to always be aware of them all and treat others as you would like to be treated.

You can read her remarks directly at whitehouse.gov

So, graduates, the truth is that Brown vs. Board of Ed. isn’t just about our history, it’s about our future. Because while that case was handed down 60 years ago, Brown is still being decided every single day –- not just in our courts and schools, but in how we live our lives.

Now, our laws may no longer separate us based on our skin color, but nothing in the Constitution says we have to eat together in the lunchroom, or live together in the same neighborhoods. There’s no court case against believing in stereotypes or thinking that certain kinds of hateful jokes or comments are funny.

So the answers to many of our challenges today can’t necessarily be found in our laws. These changes also need to take place in our hearts and in our minds. (Applause.) And so, graduates, it’s up to all of you to lead the way, to drag my generation and your grandparents’ generation along with you.

And that’s really my challenge to all of you today. As you go forth, when you encounter folks who still hold the old prejudices because they’ve only been around folks like themselves, when you meet folks who think they know all the answers because they’ve never heard any other viewpoints, it’s up to you to help them see things differently.

And the good news is that you probably won’t have to bring a lawsuit or go all the way to the Supreme Court to do that. You all can make a difference every day in your own lives simply by teaching others the lessons you’ve learned here in Topeka.

Maybe that starts simply in your own family, when grandpa tells that off-colored joke at Thanksgiving, or you’ve got an aunt talks about “those people.” Well, you can politely inform them that they’re talking about your friends. (Applause.)

Or maybe it’s when you go off to college and you decide to join a sorority or fraternity, and you ask the question, how can we get more diversity in our next pledge class? Or maybe it’s years from now, when you’re on the job and you’re the one who asks, do we really have all the voices and viewpoints we need at this table? Maybe it’s when you have kids of your own one day, and you go to your school board meeting and insist on integrating your children’s schools and giving them the resources they need.

But no matter what you do, the point is to never be afraid to talk about these issues, particularly the issue of race. Because even today, we still struggle to do that. Because this issue is so sensitive, is so complicated, so bound up with a painful history. And we need your generation to help us break through. We need all of you to ask the hard questions and have the honest conversations, because that is the only way we will heal the wounds of the past and move forward to a better future. (Applause.)

omgomgomgomg she wants graduating high school students to "ask the hard questions and have the honest conversations" to "heal the wounds of the past and move forward to a better future."

This is intolerable! How dare this woman encourage young adults to WHAT?

[Maybe that starts simply in your own family, when grandpa tells that off-colored joke at Thanksgiving, or you’ve got an aunt talks about “those people.” Well, you can politely inform them that they’re talking about your friends.

Oh, never mind. I thought The Blaze headline said she wanted them to "Monitor Family Members for Racial Insensitivity" but instead I find out she told kids to stick up for their friends.

I wonder how many racially insensitive comments Ms. Obama challenged while she was attending Reverend Wright's church?

Oh wow, the first lady is asking kids or young adults to maybe help educate racist and bigots, but yea shes a nazy.


What a terrible person she is, you know telling kids that if they hear anything racist they should chalenge the status quo.

a reply to: tadaman

isnt that what dictators and statism is all about? Common people policing other common people for the state´s greater hold over a populace? Where did these people come from? Communist Cuba circa the 1960s where your neighbor would tell your local official snitch about the extra food rations you "stole" from the state?

The hell is wrong with these people?

Does it matter at all that she didn't say that? She didn't say anything about "policing" or "monitoring" let alone "reporting."

In effect, she was telling children to "deny ignorance."

a reply to: tadaman

This presidency is the most dividing and discordious leadership we ever had. If we dont all kill each other before the Obamas are out of office we deserve "I survived" T shirts. -

This is what bothers me the most about all of this

Normally I'd be like, 'Oh yeah, you go' about a speech on this topic
But when it comes to race the Obama's are the most racist people I've seen in power, and so all I see is hypocrisy when they try to speak of 'unity'

Our country seems more divided now and racially charged than before Obama took office
And boy how they LOVE to play the race-card

a reply to: snarky412

You took a story thats half made up of what she really said, and you complain that the others use the race card

originally posted by: BO XIAN
a reply to: xuenchen

Regressives.

Regressives.

Regressives.

They are about as progressive as black is white.

REgressed all the way back to Babylon. . . . racing toward the same satan worship and overt child sacrifice.

Of course you are correct.

They keep self-proclaiming "Progressive".

I need to write it as "ultra-Pro-Regressive"

originally posted by: Zanti Misfit
a reply to: snarky412

What is this , the Year of the Rat ? See Something , say Something . Hitler , Stalin , and Mao would be Proud of the First Misguided Lady Indeed.........

Are you implying that Hitler, Stalin and Mao encouraged young adults (18+) to tell grandpa that his n# jokes aren't funny around the Thanksgiving table?

Please point out what part of her speech you're referring to?

The big problem these days, is that Political Correctness gets in the way of a simple truthful statement and then the racist comments start flying.

In a conversation in my country, saying nicely, "When Captain Cook landed in Australia, the Aboriginals were a stone age culture that had not mastered even rudimentary agriculture nor animal husbandry." was howled down by some as racist.

How can the truth be racist. It is now racist to discuss race. Unless of course you are any other color than white, then you can do all sorts of things and say terrible things abut whites or each other.

It is OK for one black person to use the N -word but it is not OK for a white.

It only makes sense to me if THEY are trying as hard as they can to keep racial tensions high.

P

The Gem is in the sand......

Maybe that starts simply in your own family, when grandpa tells that off-colored joke at Thanksgiving, or you’ve got an aunt talks about “those people.”

A perfect way to insult.

What a fantastic insinuation !!!

Would Michelle use a glove to slap your face too?

A true Cubic Zirconia.

Good Gawd !!

So no one has read the article, and are just spewing right wing propaganda with stars galore.

She told young people to chalenge the status quo when hearing racist or bigot comments close to them.

Dosent sound like a bad thing, can someone point me to the bad bad thing she said.