Errol Louis: Michelle Obama's speech on Trump sexual issues a watershed moment in national conversation on gender equality
He says it recalled Anita Hill hearing, 25 years ago this week. It rocked the nation, changed norms on reporting sexual harassment
Editor’s Note: Errol Louis is the host of “Inside City Hall,” a nightly political show on NY1, a New York all-news channel. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
CNN
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In the course of attacking Donald Trump on the campaign trail Thursday, first lady Michelle Obama created a watershed moment in the national conversation about gender equality – one with effects that will surely last long after the votes are counted on November 8.
Michelle Obama, stumping for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, launched a devastating attack on the brazen, scandalous words and behavior of Donald Trump, especially his foul-mouthed boasts about sexually attacking women.
The speech will be remembered for its powerful condemnation of the abuse and harassment that women endure on streets and in the workplace – in a speech delivered, fittingly, almost exactly 25 years from the date another talented black attorney, Anita Hill, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about having been harassed by Clarence Thomas, who had been nominated for the Supreme Court.
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Michelle Obama: Becoming FLOTUS —
Take a look back at former first lady Michelle Obama's journey to the East Wing and beyond. For more, watch CNN Original Series "First Ladies" Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
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Obama was born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson in Chicago. Here, she is seen as a baby with her father, Fraser Robinson III; her mother, Marian; and her brother, Craig, in 1964.
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Obama attended Bryn Mawr Elementary School in Chicago from 1970-1977.
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Obama's 1980 yearbook photo from Whitney Young High School in Chicago. The magnet school was far from her home on the south side of the city, and her round-trip commute was three hours.
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"I was a pretty serious student," Obama said in a 2014 interview. "One of the things I wanted to make sure was that I didn't peak in high school. ... So I focused on school. I was really clear that I wanted to go to college. So I needed to have myself together, go to my classes, be on point, be involved in the school."
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Obama, seen here in her 1981 yearbook photo, was salutatorian of her high school's senior class.
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Obama attends prom in 1982 with her first boyfriend, David Upchurch.
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Obama graduated from Princeton University in 1985. She received a bachelor's degree in sociology and minored in African-American studies.
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She met Barack Obama when she was assigned to be his mentor at Sidley & Austin, a Chicago law firm. Here, the two pose for a photo in Hawaii in 1989.
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The couple married on October 3, 1992.
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The Obamas have dinner in 2000 with their first child, Malia. Malia was born on July 4, 1998.
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The Obamas are seen in March 2000, when Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator, was running for the US House of Representatives. He lost the Democratic primary to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush.
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The Obamas are seen with daughters Malia and Sasha at Sasha's christening. Sasha was born on June 7, 2001.
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The Obamas check in with poll workers in Chicago in November 2004. Barack Obama would go on to win a US Senate seat.
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The Obamas celebrate during a victory party in Chicago on November 2, 2004.
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Barack Obama gives his wife a playful kiss as they tour the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, in August 2007. Obama was campaigning at the time for the Democratic presidential nomination.
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Michelle Obama has breakfast at Pamela's Diner in Pittsburgh in April 2008.
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Michelle Obama speaks during the Democratic National Convention on August 25, 2008.
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During his inauguration ceremony in Washington, Barack Obama takes the oath of office as his wife holds the Lincoln Bible.
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Obama's Jason Wu inaugural ball gown helped put both them both on fashion "it" lists in 2009.
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The first lady meets with former South African President Nelson Mandela in June 2011.
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President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama visit with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace ahead of a State Banquet on May 24, 2011 in London, England.
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The first lady exits a Target department store in Alexandria, Virginia, after doing some shopping in September 2011.
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Obama kisses her husband during an inauguration reception at the National Building Museum in Washington in January 2013.
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Obama, via satellite, announces the Oscar for best picture at the end of the Academy Awards show in February 2013.
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Obama dances with Jimmy Fallon on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in 2013.
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Obama plants the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House in April 2013. To help her, she invited students from schools "that have made exceptional improvements to school lunches." It was part of the first lady's "Let's Move" campaign, which she launched in 2010 to reduce childhood obesity.
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The first lady rides a bike while vacationing in 2013 in Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.
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Obama dances alongside "Sesame Street" character Rosita at the White House in October 2013 as part of the first lady's "Let's Move" initiative.
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Kent Nishimura/Pool//Landov
Obama listens as her husband speaks to members of the US military and their families at a 2013 Christmas Day meal in Kaneohe, Hawaii.
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Charles Dharapak/AP
Obama reacts as Ashtyn Gardner, a 2-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, loses her balance while greeting Sunny, one of the Obamas' dogs, at a White House event in December 2014.
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The Obama family, including daughters Malia (left) and Sasha (right), pose for a portrait with their pets Bo and Sunny in the Rose Garden on April 5, 2015.
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Obama waves to the crowd before giving a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, during which she says one of her most famous quotes: "Our motto is, when they go low, we go high."
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CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Obama arrives on stage alongside President Obama during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner on September 17, 2016.
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From Michelle Obama/Twitter
Obama poses with dogs Bo and Sunny as the family prepares to depart the White House in January 2017. In an accompanying tweet, she writes: "Thank you for the birthday wishes and for the greatest gift of all: the opportunity to serve as your First Lady."
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The Obamas welcome a newly elected Donald Trump and wife Melania to the White House in January 2017.
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Paul Morigi
Visitors encounter Amy Sherald's official portrait of Michelle Obama at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018.
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Obama laughs while signing copies of her memoir "Becoming" in November 2018. She'd go on to win a best spoken word album Grammy for the audio version of her best-selling book.
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A viewer watches the former first lady speak during the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Obama shares a hug with a fan in her 2020 Netflix documentary "Becoming," just one of the media projects she's been involved with this year. The Obamas signed a multi-year production deal with the streaming company in 2018, and in July 2020 the former first lady launched a podcast.
“This is not normal. This is not politics as usual,” Michelle Obama said, her voice breaking with emotion. “This is disgraceful. It is intolerable. And it doesn’t matter what party you belong to – Democrat, Republican, independent – no woman deserves to be treated this way. None of us deserves this kind of abuse.” She implored the crowd to “stop this madness” by voting for Hillary Clinton.
Madness is an apt term for the torrent of insults, lies, conspiracy theories and hopeless rage that Trump bellows from every podium as his campaign implodes.
But Obama went beyond the politics of the moment. “I know it’s a campaign, but this isn’t about politics. It’s about basic human decency. It’s about right and wrong,” she said. “And we simply cannot endure this, or expose our children to this any longer – not for another minute, and let alone for four years. Now is the time for all of us to stand up and say enough is enough.”
Something similar happened in 1991, when Hill, a law professor, told a panel of white, male senators about allegedly being subjected to lewd comments and behavior by Thomas – only to encounter hostile, skeptical questioning. Hill endured the ordeal with grace… and Thomas got confirmed. But the nation was never the same.
The spectacle of disbelieving male senators badgering Hill galvanized the country. Congress swiftly passed a law making it easier for women to sue for damages in harassment cases, and the 1992 elections saw 24 women elected to Congress and four to the Senate – including the first-ever black woman senator, Carol Moseley-Braun, one of several freshman lawmakers who cited the Hill hearings as their inspiration for running.
Women everywhere became less reluctant to speak up about harassment: in the year after Hill testified, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which tracks claims of sexual harassment, got 10,578 such complaints – a 72% increase from the 6,126 received the year before Hill testified.
Fast-forward 25 years. In an op-ed in the Boston Globe, Hill reflected on Trump’s coarse and vulgar taped remarks and concluded: “Trump’s language, which he and others have tried to minimize as “locker room banter,” is predatory and hostile. To excuse it as that or as youthful indiscretion or overzealous romantic interest normalizes male sexual violence.”
It’s safe to predict that in the months and years to come, young girls and women leaders in politics, business, science and the arts will cite Michelle Obama’s speech as a touchstone that inspired them to reject abuse and demand respect. That will rank among the best outcomes of a campaign that has been petty, disappointing and increasingly bitter.
