Michelle Obama has revealed that she felt compelled to straighten her hair during her time in the White House because she believed Americans were “not ready” for her natural hair. Speaking at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC on Tuesday to promote her new book, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, the former first lady said that the American public was “just getting adjusted” to having a Black first family.
Obama told former talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres that although wearing braids would have been easier, she feared her hair would become a distraction and be politicised. “Let me keep my hair straight,” she recalled thinking. “Let’s get healthcare passed.” She added that the administration needed to focus on its agenda rather than answering racist questions about her hair.
The former first lady highlighted the double standards faced by Black women in the workplace, noting that natural hairstyles can be criticised as less professional. “We deal with it – the whole thing about, ‘Do you show up with your natural hair?’” she said. “That’s the African American experience.”
Obama also referenced the backlash her husband faced in 2014 for wearing a tan suit, calling it “the great indignity, the scandal of the Obama administration.” The US House of Representatives passed the Crown Act in March, which prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles, but the Senate has yet to pass the measure. Several states and municipalities have enacted local versions of the law.
