“Many people were moved by Michelle Obama’s speech last night, in which she exhorted Americans to work toward ‘the world as it should be.’ Watching the first potential black first lady address the country, it’s hard not to imagine that we are a universe closer than we once were. The genius of the Obama style lies in its ability to make the black experience universal. Despite the fact that black people and white people doubtlessly feel something different when they hear Michelle say that the American Dream is ‘a blessing hard won by those who came before me,’ it is no less meaningful to both. This is about more than campaign rhetoric. It is a political agenda where black and white interests are not seen as antithetical to one another, where disagreements are about ideas, not identity. But the pride I feel at watching Michelle Obama address the country is tempered by the knowledge that few people recognize the specific and unnecessary an extra burden she bears.” (08/26/08)