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On 13 April 2016, the conservative blog US Herald posted a story reporting that First Lady Michelle Obama had told students in Topeka, Kansas, to monitor their family members' racially-intolerant speech KGB-style, in violation of their constitutional right to believe whatever they wish or associate with whomever they choose: The article was disingenuously crafted to make it appear as though Mrs. Obama were advocating that students watch family members Big Brother-style and strong-arm them into sharing her beliefs on racial justice. The piece took a handful of phrases out of context from her 17 May 2014 speech to create that impression, failing to note the historical significance of the date on which it delivered or the fact that it was two years old. Mrs. Obama gave the speech at the Topeka School District's Senior Recognition Day, held at the Expocentre, on the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling that ended legislated racial segregation in American schools. The First Lady told graduating high school seniors that despite the high court's 1954 decision, daily challenges to reaching the goal of racial equality remained. The First Lady's point in the passage cited by US Herald was that although the law may now ban racial segregation, it doesn't necessarily require integration — and thus people from different racial backgrounds still often remain separated from each other in schools and neighborhoods. a circumstance that fosters the perpetuation of older racial stereotypes and prejudices. Therefore, Mrs. Obama urged the students to whom she spoke, they should use their own experiences as members of a diverse community to educate others: What the First Lady advocated was gentle correction and persuasion to change hearts and minds on issues of racial prejudice, not that schoolchildren should monitor their own family members for racial intolerance and engage in KGB-style spying and reporting.
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