Republican Heads Explode as Michelle Obama Tells Kansas Grads To Fight Racism and Bigotry

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Republican heads will certainly explode after First Lady Michelle Obama told high school grads to stand up against the same bigotry and discrimination that is the bread and butter of the Republican Party.

Here is a video clip:

First Lady Obama said:

And that’s really my challenge to all of you today – when you encounter folks who still hold the old prejudices because they’ve only been around folks like themselves, when you meet folks who think they know all the answers because they’ve never heard any other viewpoints, it is up to you to help them see things differently.

And the good news is that you probably won’t have to bring a lawsuit or go all the way to the Supreme Court.

You all can make a difference every day in your own lives simply by teaching others the lessons you’ve learned here in Topeka.

Maybe that starts in your own family, when grandpa tells that awkward joke at Thanksgiving or your aunt says something about “those people,” and you politely inform them that they’re talking about your friends.

Or maybe it’s when you go off to college and you decide to join a sorority or fraternity, and you ask “How can we get more diversity in our next pledge class?”

Or maybe it’s years from now, when you’re at work, and you’re the one who asks, “Do we really have all the voices and viewpoints we need at this table?”

Or maybe it’s when you have kids of your own one day, and you go to your school board meeting and insist on integrating your schools and giving them the resources they need.

No matter what you do, the point is to never be afraid to talk about these issues, particularly the issue of race, because even today, we still struggle to do that. This issue is so sensitive, so complicated, so bound up with a painful history.

And we need your generation to help us break through – we need all of you to ask the hard questions and have the honest conversations because that is the only way we will heal the wounds of the past and move forward to a better future.

It’s easy to see why Republicans were so up in arms about the First Lady speaking to high school grads in Kansas. Standing up to racism? Telling bigots that homophobia is not cool? What’s a racist and bigoted Republican to do?

That awkward aunt around the Thanksgiving table was certainly getting her info about “those people” from Fox News. Mrs. Obama’s message of tolerance and acceptance went against everything that the Republican Party stands for.

Republicans were outraged because they didn’t want the First Lady to fill the minds of the sacred youth with words like diversity and equality.

Michelle Obama delivered an uplifting message to grads about the future and their role in it, and that is the last thing that the aged, dead, and dying Republican Party wanted the red state youths to hear.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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