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On April 28, 2025, Jay Shetty was joined by former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and her brother, Craig Robinson, in the episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty.
In the podcast, the brother-sister duo shared stories of the racism they faced during childhood. Michelle explained that it still exists and claimed that people tend to ignore your accomplishments as long as you are a person of color.
Michelle Obama further opened up about the fear and struggles faced by immigrants and people of color in the United States under President Donald Trump's deportation policies. She expressed that these policies are "indiscriminately determining who belongs and who doesn't."
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The former First Lady of the United States alleged that these decisions are not being made in court but are based solely on a person's color and race, adding:
"There's so much bias and so much racism and so much ignorance that fuels those kind of choices. I worry for people of color all over this country, and I don't know that we will have the advocates to protect everybody, and that frightens me, it keeps me up at night."
She clarified that this no longer frightens her as she has enough power to protect herself. However, Michelle Obama expressed her concern for regular immigrants and people of color, stating:
"I see that when I'm driving around LA, I'm just looking in the faces of folks who could be victims, and I'm wondering, how are you feeling? How do you feel standing on the bus stop? How do you feel comfortable going to work, going to school? When you know that there could be people out here judging you."
Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson on avoiding assumptions based on their emotions
Michelle Obama's older brother, Craig Robinson, explained that while his teenage kids are growing up in a relatively safer environment, he is still making them aware of the racial prejudice and discrimination they might face in the outside world.
He emphasized practicing empathy with his children, recalling how his mother taught him, "Just put yourself in the other guy's shoes, he's probably had a bad upbringing, an ignorant upbringing."
"It's a good reminder to talk about this and put some coping strategies together for especially our teenagers because they're going to encounter this at some point," Craig Robinson continued.
Michelle Obama expressed that she practices "reverse messaging" in her mind to help her avoid getting trapped in negative feelings about racial prejudice and discrimination. Despite this, she said she could not afford to let these negative feelings control her role as the former First Lady of the United States.
She added that she reminds herself of the ideals and values she has learned to help her move forward.
"Having been the first lady of the entire country and representing the country in the world, I couldn't afford to have that kind of disdain, I had to remind myself and put myself in situations that reminded me the ideals and beliefs that I disagree with are not pervasive and there are a lot of good people out there."
She further stated that this does not stop her from reminding herself of what she has seen and experienced.
Born on January 17, 1964, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama became the First Lady of the United States in 2009 after marrying the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, in 1992.
