On February 23rd, the Politico blog releases Michelle's blocked thesis on racial divide.
"My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before," the future Mrs. Obama wrote in her thesis introduction. "I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don’t belong. Regardless of the circumstances under which I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second."
The thesis, titled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community" and written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, in 1985, has been the subject of much conjecture on the blogosphere and elsewhere in recent weeks, as it has been "temporarily withdrawn" from Princeton’s library until after this year’s presidential election in November. Some of the material has been written about previously, however, including a story last year in the Newark Star Ledger.
Obama writes that the path she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to her "further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant."
Michelle Obama's senior year thesis at Princeton University shows a document written by a young woman grappling with a society in which a black Princeton alumnus might only be allowed to remain "on the periphery."
Read the full thesis "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community"
Critics, who have read the thesis, say it is the most sophomoric, non-scholarly piece of drivel ever and claim it exposes the lack of academic rigor at Princeton, even over 20 years ago. |
