Former president credits openly gay college professor with teaching him empathy and kindness on Michelle’s podcast
Barack Obama has said all young boys should have a mixture of male role models and friends, including a gay person, so that they don’t grow up “ignorant” and can develop empathy and kindness.
The former president, 63, made the comments while appearing on the podcast his wife Michelle Obama hosts with her brother Craig Robinson, called IMO (In My Opinion), in an episode released on Wednesday.
During a discussion about raising emotionally intelligent young men, Obama shared how an openly gay college professor became one of his most influential mentors and helped shape his understanding of empathy.
Learning from a Gay Professor
One of the most valuable things I learned as a guy was, I had a gay professor in college at a time when openly gay folks still weren’t out,” the Harvard Law graduate-turned-Democrat politician revealed. “He became one of my favourite professors and was a great guy. He would call me out when I started saying stuff that was ignorant.”
Obama emphasised the importance of such relationships in developing emotional intelligence: “You need that to show empathy and kindness, and by the way, you need that person in your friend group so that if you then have a boy who is gay or non-binary or what have you, they have somebody that they can go: ‘okay, I’m not alone in this’.”
“Creating that community, I know it’s corny but, that’s what we need,” he added.
Multiple Male Role Models Essential
The former president, whose own father was absent during his upbringing in Kenya, stressed that even boys with “great dads” need exposure to multiple male figures.
“And that’s one of the things that I think a lot of times boys need, is, not just exposure to one guy, one dad, no matter how good the dad. He can’t be everything,” Obama explained. “And that boy may need somebody to give the boy some perspective on the dad right?”
He reflected on visiting Michelle’s family home when they were dating and observing the variety of male relatives who each demonstrated masculinity in their own ways.
Personal Background
Obama’s comments come from his own experience of growing up without his biological father present. Born in Hawaii to an 18-year-old American mother and 27-year-old Kenyan father, his parents divorced in 1964 when he was three years old.
His father, Barack Obama Snr., returned to Kenya where he worked for the government. The diplomat visited his son in Hawaii only once before he was killed in a car crash in 1982.
Obama was brought up by his mother, Ann Dunham, and his stepfather Lolo Soetoro, in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Honolulu, Hawaii. He told Newsweek in 2008 that his stepfather was “a good man who gave me some things that were very helpful,” including “a pretty hardheaded assessment of how the world works.”
Addressing Progressive Rhetoric
During the podcast, Obama also offered criticism of how progressives sometimes discuss masculinity, suggesting they have “made that mistake sometimes in terms of our rhetoric, where it’s like we’re constantly talking about it, you know, what’s going on with the boys instead of what’s right with them.”
He called it “promising” that young men are beginning to realise there are many different ways of being a “good, strong, successful, happy man,” though he expressed concern that younger generations might be leaving behind some positive aspects of traditional masculinity, such as chivalry.
Marriage Rumours Dismissed
The appearance on Michelle’s podcast also served another purpose – addressing persistent rumours about their marriage. The speculation had intensified after Michelle Obama did not attend several high-profile events with her husband, including President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
“What, you guys like each other?” Robinson joked during the episode, prompting Michelle to acknowledge “the rumour mill.”
“She took me back!” Obama light-heartedly chimed in, adding: “It was touch and go for awhile.”
Michelle then made a heartfelt admission about their relationship of almost 33 years: “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man. And we’ve had some really hard times.”
She added: “So we had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures, and I have become a better person because of the man I’m married to.
When apart, Michelle noted with characteristic sass, “folks think we’re divorced,” emphasising how nice it was to be in the same room as her husband during the podcast recording.
Education and Career
After graduating high school in Hawaii, Obama moved to the US mainland for college, studying at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, and Columbia University in New York City where he majored in political science.
He later studied at Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School, where his encounter with the gay professor who influenced his worldview likely occurred during his undergraduate years at Occidental or Columbia.
The former president’s comments reflect his continued advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights and his belief in the importance of diverse perspectives in shaping well-rounded individuals, particularly young men navigating modern masculinity.
Follow for more updates on Britannia Daily
