Former First Lady Michelle Obama is trying to sell a book, so that means we’ve been seeing even more fawning media coverage of her than usual in recent days. During an interview with actress Tracee Ellis Ross, Obama had an unfettered opportunity to share her disdain for White people, a topic she and her husband have publicly discussed on multiple prior occasions. The Daily Caller provided an overview of her remarks: She blamed white people for the “exhausting” beauty standards she felt she had to upkeep while she was in the spotlight. Reflecting on her childhood, she told Ellis black people need to know how to present themselves because “how you present can sometimes save your life.” Obama said her exposure to “high end of Chicago” taught her a lesson. “And to access those places and not be accused of stealing, you realize very early on that you better let them hear you talk, or come in with the right Le Sac case, or else you would be watched,” the former first lady said. “So I think I learned then that how you show up, especially when it comes to white folks looking at young black kids, that how you present can sometimes save your life,” she said. Ross read an excerpt from Obama’s book aloud. “In a way, being first lady was just another professional experience where I had to conform to a white environment of appropriateness,” the former first lady wrote, according to Ross. Obama then discussed the effort she put into keeping her natural hair concealed until she left the White House and eventually turned her attention to white people. “Let me explain something to white people!” Obama said. “Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern, so when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness!” she claimed. Watch here: Backup here if needed: Michelle Obama says when she was a kid, white people were killing black kids over clothes. Back in my day the worst you got was a whooping or teased for wearing socks with sandals. Some stories are just too wild to take seriously. pic.twitter.com/VlBzEKEFmo — Chad Prather (@WatchChad) November 14, 2025 Michelle Obama tells a crowded venue that the only reason black people don’t go to the gym or know how to swim is because white people have straight hair. Maybe it’s because you are lazy? I’m so over the ‘white people bad’ narrative. pic.twitter.com/RS5uEBJBYy — Amiri King (@AmiriKing) November 14, 2025 Michelle Obama has clearly lost her mind, it’s white peoples fault she straightens her hair, doesn’t go to the gym and is afraid to swim. I mean WTF pic.twitter.com/C0I4fVbPha — Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) November 15, 2025 People magazine also covered her new book, “The Look,” including another passage in which Obama cannot stop fixating on the hair differences between races and the supposed racism of White Americans: It’s the same sentiment she had as a child growing up on the South side of Chicago. In The Look she shares images and stories of her natural hair journey and how early on braids afforded her the flexibility to run, swim and play without fear of ruining her look. In one striking throwback photo, she stands poised with cornrows as a young college student at Princeton. But during her White House years, she admits she didn’t feel braids were an option. “I wasn’t sure whether the country was ready for it,” she says of opting not to wear the hairstyle during her husband’s two terms as President. “The Crown Act [which protects employees and students from race-based hair discrimination] hadn’t been passed yet, and just like fashion, I didn’t want my hair to become a distraction.” Here’s a clip of her recent interview: