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First lady Michelle Obama encourages the graduating seniors to draw upon the strength of the state's civil rights movement when confronting racism or criticism as part of her commencement address at graduation ceremonies for Jackson State University's Class of 2016, at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Miss., Saturday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
First Lady Michelle Obama gave a rare and impassioned defense of her husband's legacy Saturday, saying he's risen above personal attacks and taken the high road even as opponents have questioned his patriotism, his honesty, his citizenship<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and his faith.
"As I’ve walked this journey with Barack, I’ve gotten a pretty good look at what it means to rise above the fray, what it means to set your eyes on the horizon, to devote your life to making things better for those who will come after you," she told<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the graduating class of Jackson State University, a historically black college in Mississippi.
"I have seen how, no matter what kind of ugliness is going on at any particular moment, Barack always stays the course," she said.
The commencement address had echoes of a similar speech Mrs. Obama gave last year, at Tuskegee University in Alabama, when she confessed that criticism of her<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— often drenched in racial<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stereotypes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— often caused her sleepless nights.
This year, her focus appeared to me more on President Obama's legacy.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>She recited a litany of accomplishments during the Obama presidency<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on the economy, health care,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>foreign policy, gay rights and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>climate change.
"Yet, too often, instead of acknowledging or celebrating this change, we have a tendency to focus on conflict and controversy.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>We pay endless attention to folks who are blocking action, blocking judges, blocking immigration, blocking a raise in the minimum wage — just blocking," she said. "We are consumed with the anger and vitriol that are bubbling up, with folks shouting at each other, using hateful and divisive language."
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The president<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has often been at the receiving end of that language, she said. "Charges that he doesn’t love our country.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The time he was called a liar in front of a Joint Session of Congress.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The nonstop questions about his birth certificate and his belief in God," she said.
Mrs. Obama's defense of her husband was in the context of a commencement address<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in which she told the 800<span style="color: Red;">*</span>graduates that they, too, will face discrimination<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— in voting rights, criminal justice, education and housing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— and have to make a choice of how to deal with it.
"Are you going to get angry or lash out?" she asked.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Or are you going to take a deep breath, straighten your shoulders, lift up your head, and do what Barack Obama has always done<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— as he says, 'When they go low, I go high.'
"That’s the choice Barack and I have made.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>That’s what has kept us sane over the years.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>We simply do not allow space in our hearts, minds, or souls for darkness," she said.
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