Michelle Obama says affirmative action no different than student athlete admissions

Former first lady Michelle Obama argued that getting accepted into college for being a star athlete is no different than being accepted due to affirmative action policies.

During Wednesday’s episode of Mrs. Obama’s “IMO” podcast, comedian Josh Johnson spoke about his own experience as a young Black comedian and writer and sometimes being the only Black person in the room.

“It is funny because, like, you know, people talk about, like, DEI and some of these initiatives and everything. And the thing that’s always funny to me about the outrage is that y’all already have the number,” Johnson said.

He argued that out of 100 people, eight to 10 might be set aside for minorities or women, and then those positions are a source of outrage.

He went on to argue that, for many people, their belief is that were it not for those seats set aside, they would have gotten in.

“When it was just like 100 White slots, there was like the 101st White guy who couldn’t get in,” Johnson said.

Former first lady Michelle Obama said getting into college as a star athlete is no different than the process of affirmative action. Getty Images

“So, it’s like, ‘You might not be able to beat other White people.'”

“And they probably won’t let you because they will keep changing the rules to keep being at the top,” Mrs. Obama said.

“My first realization of that came when I went to Princeton, right? Because I got, you know, applied, but my counselor said, ‘I don’t know if you’re Princeton material.’ Even though my brother was there, even though I was a top student, it was, like, so it set up this notion that this place is something really special.”

On Mrs. Obama’s “IMO” podcast, she compared the current situation of affirmative action to when she visited Princeton University. Richard Harbus

The former first lady then suggested that while one might be insecure about benefiting from affirmative action, getting into college for being an athlete is basically the same thing.

“And, so, I got in, and I go, and I’m thinking — you’re going with the insecurity that I only I got here because I was one of ‘the eight,’” she said.

“But then I looked around, and I saw all kinds of ‘affirmative action’ that never got discussed, you know. 

“Being the kid of an alum, being an athlete, being a, you know, and you realize that why are we only drilling down on these eight Black kids that got in, just like you said, when all these other kids got in all kinds of ways that could be considered affirmative action.”