evidence: "I think the narrative of the Obama family may be," says Gerald Early, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis and director of its Center for Humanities, "that some people will look at them and say, ‘They’re the exception. They’re not the typical black family.’ The response to that by many black people will be, ‘Here is the black family to aspire to. Here is a black father contributing to his loving family.’ And still other blacks will say, ‘We know a lot of other black families like the Obamas. It’s just that people haven’t noticed them because they’ve been focusing on the dysfunctional part of black family life."