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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:
NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 09/08/2013 18:51

That country is advocating BANNING immigrants from swimming pools! I'm surprised Oprah has been this kind. They need pulling up sharp.

TabithaStephens · 09/08/2013 18:52

If they'd known who Oprah was I'm sure they'd have gone out of their way to do everything they could for her.

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 09/08/2013 18:52

Horry Oprah was head to toe in designer gear. A shop assistant in a place like that KNOWS what's expensive.

Mapal · 09/08/2013 18:53

No, none of my family have ever been randomly stopped by police as far as I know. Not EVER out of all of us. We are a white family.
It's very easy to assume it doesn't happen when it doesn't ever happen to you. But there is still plenty of racism out there. I find it shocking when I hear racist comments when out and about from people who assume because your white too you're just going to laugh along. I heard something recently that I just couldn't stand to listen too and had to tell the person (colleague) what I though and walk away. To have not heard anything racist for years really surprises me.

flippinada · 09/08/2013 18:55

Well, I'd say Oprah is better placed to decide whether it was racism than you, as she was there.

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 09/08/2013 18:56

That's EXACTLY right Flipp I too am sure she knows racism when she meets it. She does not strike me as the kind of woman who'd go about making things up.

expatinscotland · 09/08/2013 18:57

I wonder how snotty, shitty shops like this stay in business. Who on Earth would pay for their shite attitude?

TabithaStephens · 09/08/2013 18:58

Rich people with snobby, shitty attitudes.

expatinscotland · 09/08/2013 18:59

But she doesn't have a snotty, shitty attitude. The shop owner looked like Bride of Frankenstein, but uglier.

SauceForTheGander · 09/08/2013 19:00

Did you see the shop assistant on the news? She had fluent English - so no language issue - and admitted there had been a misunderstanding about the bag. The misunderstanding was that she assumed a black woman couldn't afford it. And now she wants to hug Oprah to apologise because she's terrified she'll get the sack for missing the chance to suck up to a billionaire.

HoikyPoiky · 09/08/2013 19:00

Neo. I heard it as they wanted to ban ILLEGAL immigrants from swimming pools not resident immigrants Confused

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 09/08/2013 19:01

Sauce....I hope she's afraid of more than that. Knowing some fear might give her a vague idea of how black women feel when faced with genuine hostility.

chickieno1 · 09/08/2013 19:02

Sometimes you can't win when you're black. Nooooo racism doesn't exist we're just too sensitive! Even in extremely racist countries they're just not used to seeing black people so we should get over ourselves. Trust me as a black woman I don't bother talking about the almost daily examples of racism I have experienced as it is not worth it. Sometimes I don't even bother my white dh with it! If Oprah can't highlight this however silly most people think it is, then who can?? Trust me people don't have to SAY I am treating you this way because you are not white for it to be racist!

HoikyPoiky · 09/08/2013 19:03

Sauce. I didnt see the assistant who served Oprah on the news only the owners of the shop. The owners English was OK but she said the assistant who served Oprah didn't speak English that well (or word so that effect)

Maybe you were watching a different channel ???

Gruntfuttock · 09/08/2013 19:04

That was the shop owner, not the shop assistant SauceForTheGander

EhricLovesTeamQhuay · 09/08/2013 19:06

YABU
What other reason could she have had for telling her the bag was 'too expensive'? She made a judgement based on her appearance, and Oprah says she was wearing designer gear so what remains?

White people can't imagine how common racism is. Until I met my H I had no idea. You start to see it in people all the time. But of course you don't see it if you are white and so are the people around you.

FreudiansSlipper · 09/08/2013 19:08

what has the language barrier got to do with it

she seemed to understand that Oprah wanted to look at a certain bag and told her it was too expensive for her

McAvity · 09/08/2013 19:08

Isn't it funny how some white people tend to think that racism is very rare, and may have ended in the 70's whereas almost all black people seem to believe that racism does in fact, exist?

revealall · 09/08/2013 19:08

Is Oprah still a bit fat?

Not many really rich people are (especially in Europe where everyone is thinner). Perhaps that's what the sales assistant was looking at?

Still horrible but I wouldn't let anyone touch a £38,000 bag with bare hands unless I knew exactly how much they were worth.

Original poster
fackinell · 09/08/2013 19:10

MtsDeVere, absolutely not the reason I started the thread, it was relevant to the surrounding posts to say that as a white person I have been on the receiving end of racism. My exDPs DM was the only 'colour' racist issue, but whilst living in London, I lost count of the times I was called a sweaty sock.

I have been to Switzerland and am very familiar with the attitude of shop staff, they were like that with my all white party and lost interest when they discovered we weren't American. I have every respect for Oprah and the work that she does. I asked if I was BU, not to be pelted with buns (by a minority of you Grin)

OP posts:
flippinada · 09/08/2013 19:12

I think chickieno has it right.

I've never been on the receiving end of racism and it's unlikely I ever will be..and as such I certainly wouldn't presume to tell someone who has experienced racism that they are just being oversensitive.

Presuming you know what happened better than the person with actual lived experience is just beyond arrogant.

maja00 · 09/08/2013 19:12

Switzerland is a famously racist country - I reckon if Oprah felt this was racially motivated she is probably right!

TabithaStephens · 09/08/2013 19:13

How on earth can a handbag be worth £38,000? It's obscene IMO.

SarahAndFuck · 09/08/2013 19:14

I hadn't heard about this until I saw the thread and have just googled.

The quote from Oprah says she was wearing Donna Karen.

I wouldn't recognise Donna Karen if I fell over her, because my budget is more George than Georgio, but I imagine that people working in designer fashion would recognise designer fashion.

Not that her outfit should matter.

At the very best, we can hope the manager claiming that it was a language barrier issue rather than a racist issue is correct.

But I doubt it. Neither we nor the manager were there at the time.

Oprah was there and I suspect this sadly isn't the first time she's been the victim of racism. She's also well placed to understand the seriousness of speaking out about it, so I don't think she's done so lightly. If she feels it was racism and has spoken out about it then she's probably, and sadly, right about what it was.

expatinscotland · 09/08/2013 19:15

It isn't. She and Gayle got schtick at a Hermes shop in Paris a few years back, too.