Come and Read Mrs Obama's College Thesis

I guess all you had to do is ask. Despite being pulled from the Princeton Library, Politico got a copy of Michelle Obama's college Thesis. How did they do it....THEY ASKED. Political contacted the Obama Campaign and asked for a copy. The Obama Campaign said yes.

A summary of the thesis, which is about the racial divide at Rutgers gives an indication of her feelings about the racial divide and politcs.

"In defining the concept of identification or the ability to identify with the black community," the Princeton student wrote, "I based my definition on the premise that there is a distinctive black culture very different from white culture." Other thesis statements specifically pointed to what was seen by the future Mrs. Obama as racially insensitive practices in a university system populated with mostly Caucasian educators and students: "Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments."

To illustrate the latter statement, she pointed out that Princeton (at the time) had only five black tenured professors on its faculty, and its "Afro-American studies" program "is one of the smallest and most understaffed departments in the university." In addition, she said only one major university-recognized group on campus was "designed specifically for the intellectual and social interests of blacks and other third world students." (Her findings also stressed that Princeton was "infamous for being racially the most conservative of the Ivy League universities.")

Perhaps one of the most germane subjects approached in the thesis is a section in which she conveyed views about political relations between black and white communities. She quotes the work of sociologists James Conyers and Walter Wallace, who discussed "integration of black official(s) into various aspects of politics" and notes "problems which face these black officials who must persuade the white community that they are above issues of race and that they are representing all people and not just black people," as opposed to creating "two separate social structures." Source

If you want to read the entire thesis it is availible on line at Politico as a PDF in four pieces Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.