April 27, 2009 Issue

Michelle Obama ‘85 didn’t like her time at Princeton. In her senior thesis, she wrote how she always felt she was “black first and a student second” because of

a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society … never becoming a full participant.

Almost 25 years later, do Obama’s observations still reflect what it’s like being an African American student at Princeton? Newsweek interviewed two multigenerational black families that attended Princeton, and their experiences show what “postracialism” actually means in today’s world.

Click here for the full Newsweek story and for video of Princeton students discussing race relations on campus today.