‘Michelle–Come Into the Drawing Room’

The liberation movements of the 70s and 80s transformed me personally. I had made many homophobic and sexist comments over the years, really out of ignorance, and my consciousness actually changed. I've undergone a similar transformation re Arabs, whom I used to look down on. I offer this because the Obama accession is going to shock and change America in ways that we can't even imagine. The White House tour today was stunning to all of us, visually: seeing a black man suddenly in the trappings of the most powerful position in the world. And then there was this photo, of the First Ladies. For me it was electrifying and uncomfortable. Laura Bush is so proper, and I must honestly say that I wonder, when white people looked at this, and I am projecting from myself: how many of us flashed to images of rich white women and their servants, or home health-care aides, or indeed, their cleaning ladies? When else have we seen this sort of social combination? I know, America has changed already, and there are plenty of rich blacks; but this image is so shocking, in a forward way–to think that those old images are forever being destroyed and put behind. This will change us in ways we never expected, and transform me too, for the better.