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: Althouse

"The sight of this African American woman standing on the Capitol steps registered like a series of rolling tremors..."

Look out! It's an earthquake! I mean... it's Robin Givhan's book about Michelle Obama:

The sight of this African American woman standing on the Capitol steps registered like a series of rolling tremors, uprooting cultural assumptions and clichés about what it means to be a black woman, about the nature of the black family, about femininity, beauty and even social status. She did not erase generations of damaging stereotypes ? but she forced many of us to reconsider what we had assumed to be true.

In other words, we are terrible racists, in Givhan's view. The only way that paragraph makes sense is if, prior to Michelle Obama's emergence, our heads were filled with embarrassing, ridiculous stereotypes. And yet, if we really were like that, Michelle Obama's becoming First Lady wouldn't uproot our prejudice, would it? Wouldn't a real racist think the election was a big mistake and avoid watching the inauguration or watch it with scorn/fear/derision?

Can we think of a more accurate description of the effect it had on real Americans for Michelle Obama to become First Lady? The sight of this African American woman standing on the Capitol steps registered like a series of rolling tremors, thrilling Americans who imagined the effect this sight must be having on other Americans, the ones who were so shamefully in the grip of cultural assumptions and clichés about what it means to be a black woman, about the nature of the black family, about femininity, beauty and even social status.

Full post as published by Althouse on January 23, 2010 (boomark / email).