Author of The Black History of the White House Clarence Lusane addresses Michelle Obama’s statements at the 2016 DNC about the role of slave labor in the construction of the White House:
I think [George Washington] always had an ambiguous understanding in relationship to slavery. So in building this brand new symbol of the new America, the democracy that they were trying to promote and to establish the new country as a beacon in the world for liberation and freedom, it was clearly compromised by the issue of slavery. So I think in that context George Washington would have preferred not to have to address the issue of slave labor building the Capitol, building the White House. The problem was that there was not enough nonslave labor that could get the task accomplished.
