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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Oprah may be being a little inflammatory?

207 replies

fackinell · 09/08/2013 17:15

I very much admire Oprah Winfrey but I'm a little concerned by the news that she think the incident with the handbag in Switzerland may have been racially motivated.

IMO everyone is equal based solely on their actions so prepared to be told I am U. I can be a bit of a scruff and on a few occasions have been informed that something is out of my price range. I am white, British, 40 something and put it down to snobbery of the assistant involved, making a snap judgement on me.

I feel Oprah's comments could invoke a bit of animosity the (hopefully) calming race division. With each generation the former issues seem to be diluting (I haven't heard a racist comment in anyone under 40 for years.) isn't this just stirring trouble where there may not necessary be any?

OP posts:
AnythingNotEverything · 09/08/2013 18:13

An area near Zurich has just (or is attempting to) ban ethnic minorities from congregating in public places such as parks.

It's not exactly the most liberal and accepting country in Europe.

Original poster
fackinell · 09/08/2013 18:14

Thebody, read the OP. I said under 40. Maybe we are just a bit more tolerant in my neck of the woods, I genuinely haven't heard anything (for year, I also said, no ever!!) from under 40s, and btw, I'm over 40 and not doddery myself, yet...

OP posts:
samuelwhiskers · 09/08/2013 18:19

YABU - I used to live in Switzerland and yes, in my experience, they can be racist - generalisation I know. I totally believe Oprah and I don't believe she is stirring trouble.

HorryIsUpduffed · 09/08/2013 18:20

I was once challenged in a posh shop because I looked too poor. I looked breezily over the nearest rail and said "Actually I think I already have everything I like."

I have a naice boarding school accent. Suddenly they couldn't do enough for me.

I share some of the OP's reservations. While I'm sure the assistant discriminated, I'm yet to be convinced it was a pure race thing.

NadiaWadia · 09/08/2013 18:21

Well if she was smartly dressed, what else could it be but racial?

chibi · 09/08/2013 18:22

y y

maybe they were discriminating on the basis of her eyebrow style or choice of nail varnish

it couldn't possibly be racism oh nope

FreudiansSlipper · 09/08/2013 18:23

do you think she is not aware when people are judging her because of her colour Hmm

OutragedFromLeeds · 09/08/2013 18:24

'do you not think an intelligent woman like Oprah can sense when someone is discriminating against her because of her colour'

I think all people regardless of how intelligent they are, their age or colour can make a mistake or misunderstand a situation, particularly when there is a language (I'm assuming the sales assistant isn't American) and culture barrier.

I don't know though. I wasn't there.

fuzzywuzzy · 09/08/2013 18:25

A guy I work with went into an expensive restaurant for breakfast a few mornings ago with his wife. Despite the place beig empty the staff ignored them, colleague is the sweetest and most softly spoken guy, he went up and asked a waitress about being served and was told to take a seat they'd be with him.

Some other people entered meanwhile, place still wasn't busy tho, the other people got served friend and his wife still didn't. They left & had breakfast somewhere with nicer (not racist staff), the only difference between friend and other customers was friend wasn't white, friend and wife were well dressed as they were going to work later & he's very wealthy. It happens.

AKissIsNotAContract · 09/08/2013 18:25

bloody hell, just seen the shop owner on the news. She's definitely not in a position to judge anyone else on appearances. She looks like she's been made in a lab.

SniffAndMoomintroll · 09/08/2013 18:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FreudiansSlipper · 09/08/2013 18:30

but how often is racism dismissed because it was not obvious no racist language was used

Oprah does not need to make headlines, she knows this will be controversial and she will be accused of being over sensitive so i am quite sure she understood what was going on as she will have experienced this before

SauceForTheGander · 09/08/2013 18:33

Just seen the news. I'm not sure what the misunderstanding was .... Well I do - the shop assistant misunderstood that the woman she was " serving" was perfectly able to afford that handbag. She judged on appearances and I doubt that was about her clothes.

Oprah wasn't remotely inflammatory on the clip I saw.

raisah · 09/08/2013 18:34

The Swiss authorities are trying to stop assylum seekers from gathering in and accessing public spaces / facilities such as parks & libraries. A large marjority of assylum seekers happen to be none white & the Swiss seem to be trying to implement a type of apartheid. As they have such a hard line view on race & assylum seekers, it doesn't surprise me that the shop assistant behaved like that towards Oprah. There are many types of racism, the obvious blatant examples & the subtle nasty type that you can't quite put your finger on but you know it's there.

AllThoseDirtyWords · 09/08/2013 18:35

I think a lot of white people are in denial at how prevalent day to day racism is purely because we (I'm white) are lucky enough not to have to deal with this shit day to day.

I returned to live in a very mixed area which when I grew up there was predominantly white. Now I think because I?m white and blonde other white people in the area seem to think it's OK to treat black people badly and then say something racist once they have gone. I have had it from local taxi drivers, in the supermarket and the local pub. These are not all older people so the crappy argument ?their different generation? doesn?t work either.

I feel the real racism problem is racism exactly like this, it subtle so it is easy to dismiss it (or excuse it), unless you live it every day and can spot it a mile off that is. If people say something blatantly racist it is in some ways easier to deal with because you can openly challenge it. If this type of racism if challenged is invariable questioned, dismissed and excused.

GoshAnneGorilla · 09/08/2013 18:36

I think it's quite sad and very telling that Oprah didn't challenge the SA.

Because the thought that you can be Oprah Winfrey, self made billionaire and still have some snooty woman refuse to let you even look at a handbag, must be astoundingly depressing.

Anyone wondering about racism in Switzerland, a google image search of UDC and racism is a good place to start.

Also OP, someone describing their experiences of racism is not being inflammatory, the person being racist is.

Alanna1 · 09/08/2013 18:37

I've had a pretty senior black colleague in the states think I was "giving him the finger" when I absent-mindedly pushed my glasses up my nose. (No, really!). I initially didn't even understand what he thought I'd done - such an alien gesture - but I was amazed at the tales of casual racism many of my black colleagues had. So yes, I think it could have been a misunderstanding.

MrsDeVere · 09/08/2013 18:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

YoniRanger · 09/08/2013 18:44

Oprah is not really known for being a massive drama queen or accusing people of racism.

I think it's pretty fair to assume she's got a point.

thebody · 09/08/2013 18:46

I know you said under 40. I made a typo in the first line but if you read the rest if the post it's clear.

I am amazed that you haven't heard a racist remark from anyone in so long. I hear them all the time in pubs, work place( school) and in public.

I, like you, remember the 70s and to be quite honest things don't seem that much improved to me. yes the law has changed but attitudes haven't.

TabithaStephens · 09/08/2013 18:48

I think shops like this are more prejudiced on grounds of wealth than on grounds of colour.

BMW6 · 09/08/2013 18:48

I don't doubt for a millisecond that the sales assistant made a judgement based on the customer's colour - and that she is even now repeatedly banging her own head against a wall, whilst thinking of the commission that might have been.......Grin

MrsDeVere · 09/08/2013 18:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OutragedFromLeeds · 09/08/2013 18:50

I think it probably depends on where you live. I grew up in a really multicultural bit of London (there was racism, but from a small minority of fuckwits) and then moved up north to an area that was almost all white and it was a massive shock that racism was just 'normal practise'!

HorryIsUpduffed · 09/08/2013 18:51

"If" she was smartly dressed... We don't know that she was.

I imagine Oprah can go out in a tracksuit in the US and still get A-list treatment. But in my limited experience and understanding Switzerland is a hilariously snobbish country so anything that doesn't fit the "rich enough" stereotype will be sneered at a bit.

Any celebrity who is used to being recognised all the time gets startled when they aren't - sometimes that's a pleasant experience, but sometimes it isn't. There must be a tiny amount of "Don't you know who I am?" amongst the reasons Oprah was offended.

With the language barrier and lack of cultural reference I expect the sales assistant saw "older black woman not wearing Armani" which doesn't fit the stereotype of the customer who would typically buy the handbag in question. Which does mean she is racist, but doesn't mean that racism was the primary reason for her conduct.