海角大神

Remember the much-covered People Magazine interview in which the President and First Lady described everyday casual racism they have experienced, perhaps as a way to edge into the national conversation on Michael Brown and Eric Garner?

It didn't take long for conservatives to rip into their story.

President Obama described being mistaken for a waiter and a valet, indignities that illustrate his brushes, albeit minor, with racism.

But it was Mrs. Obama's story that caught the attention of conservative critics.

Apparently illustrating her experience with racial bias, the First Lady described an experience shopping at Target.

"I tell this story 鈥� I mean, even as the first lady 鈥� during that wonderfully publicized trip I took to Target, not highly disguised, the only person who came up to me in the store was a woman who asked me to help her take something off a shelf," . "Because she didn鈥檛 see me as the first lady, she saw me as someone who could help her. Those kinds of things happen in life. So it isn鈥檛 anything new."

A case of racism or simple need?

Perhaps, some conservative sites have pointed out, the woman asked Mrs. Obama for help not because of her skin color but because of her height.

Michelle Obama is 5鈥�11鈥�.

"Of course short people ask tall people for help in stores all the time," . "There鈥檚 nothing racial or condescending about it."

Some also pointed out that dressed as she was on that highly-covered Target trip 鈥� in a bright floral button-down over a neon yellow tee - Mrs. Obama would not have been mistaken for a Target employee in their distinctive khaki pants and red shirts.

But the bigger story is how Michelle Obama's narration of the Target experience differed from an earlier version of it on the .

"I thought I was undercover. I have to tell you something about this trip though. No one knew that was me because a woman actually walked up to me, right? I was in the detergent aisle, and she said 鈥� I kid you not 鈥� she said, 鈥楨xcuse me, I just have to ask you something,鈥� and I thought, 鈥極h, cover鈥檚 blown.鈥� She said, 鈥楥an you reach on that shelf and hand me the detergent?鈥� 聽I kid you not鈥�And the only thing she said 鈥� I reached up, 鈥檆ause she was short, and I reached up, pulled it down 鈥� she said, 鈥榃ell, you didn鈥檛 have to make it look so easy.鈥� That was my interaction. I felt so good. 鈥� She had no idea who I was. I thought, as soon as she walked up 鈥� I was with my assistant, and I said, 鈥楾his is it, it鈥檚 over. We鈥檙e going to have to leave.鈥� She just needed the detergent."

Most would agree it was an unfortunate oversight, using the same experience to illustrate two very different, perhaps contradictory, points. But some conservatives took it further.

"This is just one example of one thing we have grown to know about the Obamas," . "They will say anything, even create stories, people, and outright lie or misrepresent information, to fit their agenda."

Of course, we're unlikely to decipher Mrs. Obama's intentions 鈥� or the shopper who asked for help. But that won't stop the debate.

"Could the Target shopper who asked Mrs. Obama for help simply not have recognized her and needed, presumably, a taller person鈥檚 assistance? Sure, in theory," . "Or could the encounter have been disdainful and presumptuous, a manifestation of some inherent bias? Sure, that too could have been the case.

"The truth is, we don鈥檛 know. The lady asking for help might not even know. We are not always aware of our biases, let alone are we always able to articulate them. And people can sometimes be hypersensitive to bias when they are submerged in it."

It's also fair to say President Obama handled it more wisely by differentiating his slights 鈥� "upper crust indignities that might sound foreign and frivolous to people who don鈥檛 regularly dine at restaurants with valet service or attend black-tie dinners," 鈥� from racism that is more consequential for most African-Americans.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing for me to be mistaken for a waiter at a gala. It鈥檚 another thing for my son to be mistaken for a robber and to be handcuffed, or worse, if he happens to be walking down the street and is dressed the way teenagers dress," he said in the People interview.

How valid is Mrs. Obama's story? Are their examples trivial slights or actual racism? And what are they trying to say about the larger conversation on race and police brutality in America?

Little is known, and even less is agreed upon, but this much is clear: the sharp reaction to the Obamas' comments on racism are indicative of broader perceptions on race relations in America.

released this week found that 鈥渏ust 40 percent of Americans believe race relations in the U.S. are good 鈥� the lowest share registered by the poll since 1995.鈥�