Michelle Obama talks about South Side Chicago ‘white flight’ at Obama Summit

Former first lady Michelle Obama recalled her dawning awareness about white flight after her family moved to 74^th and Euclid when she was a youth, speaking Tuesday about growing up on the South Side during an Obama Summit session with her older brother, Craig Robinson.

“We were doing everything we were supposed to do — and better,” she said as she discussed witnessing a painful chapter in Chicago’s history. “But when we moved in, white families moved out.”

She added, “I want to remind white folks that y’all were running from us. And you’re still running,” Obama said, comparing the situation to what immigrant families arrive in neighborhoods are experiencing today.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Obama and Robinson, now an executive with the New York Knicks, reunited for a session of the third annual Obama Summit where the former first lady talked up the benefits of constructing the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.

Noting that she is “South Side” by birth and former President Barack Obama “South Side” by choice, she said, boosting the center, to be built on 19.3 acres in the historic park, “Barack and I wouldn’t bring some crap up in our neighborhood.”

Michelle Obama grew up at 7436 S. Euclid Ave. and white flight from her South Shore community was a topic she wrote about in her best selling memoir, “Becoming.”

As I wrote when her book was published, “Being a South Sider has always been a central part of Obama’s story – specifically, growing up in a close-knit family of modest means, the daughter of Fraser and Marian Robinson, whose own lives were impacted by the Great Migration and racism in the north and south.”

At the Obama Summit, taking place on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Obama made clear that the white residents were not moving because of crime.

When the Robinson’s settled on Euclid, Obama had friends from all races. “There were no gang fights, there were no territorial battles. Yet one by one, they packed their bags and they ran from us. And they left communities in shambles,” with subsequent disinvestment in schools and parks.

Barack Obama will speak later Tuesday.

Grid View

• Dancers with the Joffrey Community Engagement perform during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama kisses former First Lady Michelle Obama on the cheek as they appear on stage together after the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama (left) and Isabel Wilkerson wave goodbye after speaking during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy perform during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Mavis Staples performs during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Retired professional basketball player Charles Barkley attends the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks with actress, model, and activist Yara Shahidi during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Actor Billy Porter and filmmaker Lulu Wang speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama (right) and her brother Craig Robinson speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Obama Foundation CEO David Simas speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former Obama Administration member Valerie Jarrett speaks with other attendees before the start of the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Filmmaker Ava DuVernay speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Filmmaker Ava DuVernay and artist Theaster Gates speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama (right) and her brother Craig Robinson speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• (From left) Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin, creators of the “South Side” show on Comedy Central, speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Craig Robinson, brother of former First Lady Michelle Obama, speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks with actress, model, and activist Yara Shahidi during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the Obama Foundation, speaks with other attendees before the start of the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Filmmaker Ava DuVernay and artist Theaster Gates speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, speaks with other attendees before the start of the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama (center), her brother Craig Robinson (left) and Isabel Wilkerson speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Actress, model, and activist Yara Shahidi speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama appear on stage together after the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks with Obama Foundation fellows and actress, model, and activist Yara Shahidi during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• David Plouffe, former campaign manager for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and member of the Obama Foundation board, speaks with other attendees before the start of the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Actor Billy Porter speaks during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Deval Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts and member of the Obama Foundation board, speaks with other attendees before the start of the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• (From left) Oscar Sanchez, of the Community Leadership Corps Chicago, civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and journalist Sarah Smarsh speak during the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side, Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times