When First Lady Michelle Obama took the stage on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, her well-received speech came in stark contrast to some of the more crisis-oriented language that came out of last week’s Republican convention. Speaking of how barriers can be broken and disparaging the idea that “somehow we need to make [America] great again,” she gave one particularly striking example: That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.