From ELLE
When you live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., there’s a lot of pressure. The first family is always watched, always scrutinized. Most of the time, this is fair enough, especially for the president and first lady, who are adults who know the world is watching.
Sometimes, of course, there are missteps. Sometimes there are really big and dull errors in the shape of the Zara jacket. But when Michelle Obama lived in the White House, she knew she couldn’t afford to make any of them (not even the smallest ones).
“Barack and I knew very early on that we would be measured by a different yardstick,” Obama told Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden about Barack Obama’s time as America’s first black president. “Making mistakes was not an option for us. It’s not that we didn’t make mistakes, but we had to be good – no, we had to be outstanding – at everything we did… When you’re first, you’re the one laying down the rug red for others to follow.
The former FLOTUS also addressed the dangers of seeing people only for the color of their skin, something she has personally dealt with.
“It’s a shame that sometimes people see me and only see my color, and then make certain judgments about it,” he said. “It’s dangerous for us to dehumanize each other like that. We’re all just people.”
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