The Washington Examiner
First Lady to address Anacostia graduates
By Harry Jaffe
Sunday, March 21, 2010
When Michelle and Barack Obama took up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of our fair capital city, they promised to become good neighbors.
They have followed through, especially the first lady. She and her husband have connected with the community the way most parents do: through their children and the school they attend. Michelle and Barack show up at Sidwell Friends to meet with their daughters' teachers and to attend plays and such.
The first couple has made the rounds at a few D.C. schools to read to students.
But the first lady is the face we see most.
Last Friday Mrs. Obama showed up to announce that the District had been awarded $4.9 million in federal "stimulus" funds to help fight addition to tobacco. Cigarettes are bad, and this is good news, but I'm not exactly sure what this will stimulate in the realm of job creation. I suggest we follow the money.
Following the first lady around town later this spring will take you to Anacostia High School. She is scheduled to speak at the graduation in early June.
At first blush I get pretty darn warm and fuzzy over the notion of Michelle Obama crossing the Anacostia River into the badlands of D.C. to speak with the teenagers at the local high school. The kids who go to Anacostia High occupy the dangerous and unruly turf in a cultural war zone. On one side is the ghetto life of illiteracy and drugs. On the other side is education, college and a ticket to another life. Every day they go to the school and wonder whether they will get an education or get knifed.
That's much less the transaction this year, since D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee hired Friendship Public Charter School to manage Anacostia. In a recent visit to the school, students told me the halls were no longer party zones, teachers were teaching, violence was way down.
No question the first lady is the perfect role model for Anacostia's girls. She can relate. When she was coming up on Chicago's rough side, people told her she was "acting white" when she studied hard and got good grades. She gets major cred for bringing that message to kids who don't hear that at home.
But I can't help but wonder why the Obamas won't go all the way and dispatch the president to Anacostia High. It is, after all, the black boys who are most in need of a role model -- a strong African American male who stays married, loves his wife, cuddles his kids, plays hoops and lives in the White House.
I'm still a bit sore that the Obamas decided to send their daughters to private school. I know I am a grind on the subject. But it would salve many wounds if the president would show up at Anacostia High -- or Ballou or McKinley or Spingarn -- to cheer on the graduating class.
Surprise us.