Michelle Obama, presidential wife, says race affects participation in society

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is a statuesque lawyer who went to Princeton before going to Harvard and before marrying President Barack Obama. Thirty years ago, she felt race mattered in social relationships with Whites, and perhaps now she feels she is Black first and a First Lady second.

In her copyrighted 1985 thesis for her B.A. degree in Sociology, "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community," Obama wrote about her social relationship to Whites on campus.

"Regardless of the circumstances underwhich I interact with Whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be Black first and a student second.

"These experiences have made it apparent to me that the path I have chosen to follow by attending Princeton will likely lead to my 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."
http://www.politico.com/pdf/080222_MOPrincetonThesis_1-251.pdf

People's perceptions can change over time due to their circumstances. I would like to ask her how she feels now.