Oprah Winfrey victim of racism apparently...

hfallada wrote: »

I havent been to Switzerland but my old German teacher lived there and like most people found them to be a cu nty. They are known to be efficient and good at helping people dodge taxes, but not friendly people.

But a lot African Americans put snobbery down to race rather than just snobbery. Its Switzerland I seriously doubt they are used to dealing with wealthy black people. Like way the Chinese dont like to deal with black people in China.

My father is as black as can be, but when he lived in Asia he and my mother lived in a glitzy high rise (paid for by her company) and everyone kissed his ass because they thought that, because he lived in that building, he was rich (he is a retired steelworker). Chinese people may talk **** about other groups, and don't particularly like black people in theory, but they do not play when it comes to money.

Unfortunately, I know too many wealthy, professional black women in the US who have been confronted with the "it's very expensive" treatment - and they did not walk in these stores dressed like hookers. For black people who "played the game" the way society supposedly wants us to - got an education, a good job, contribute to society, etc - to still get treated like the help when they try to shop in luxury stores is enraging. You can complain about "First world problems" and the like, but from the other side, it feels like you just can't win: if you walk around in a hoodie, you're a thug, but if you walk around in a Brooks Brothers suit and a cashmere overcoat, you still can't get a cab in NYC or get service at the Neiman Marcus jewelry counter (a friend of mine was just bitching about this).

diomed wrote: »

I am not an expert on how much women are prepared to spend on handbags. Of course there is no way the assistant can know how much money a person has, or how much they are prepared to spend.

.....in which case they wouldn't let anyone handle anything unless they waved cash at them. That's not how it works though, is it?

diomed wrote: »

And Oprah would claim it is racism that she has to look it it and can't touch it.
Oprah Winfrey has got plenty of publicity out of this non-event.
If racism is about $35,000 handbags things can't be that bad.

Let's rewind there. You stated

I am not an expert on how much women are prepared to spend on handbags. Of course there is no way the assistant can know how much money a person has, or how much they are prepared to spend. Perhaps it was in a display to stop people handling it and reducing its value.

...the assistant told her that she, specifically, could not afford it and thus she could not handle it. She offered her others. Thus its clear that a judgement was made, and there is not a non-handling policy in the shop. Secondly, shops that sell delicate items tend to stock a "display" item, for that purpose specifically.

Nemeses wrote: »

If I saw Oprah in the street, I probably wouldnt be able to recognise her.

Nor do I care for her shows and her wealth.

Just another annoying T--T to me.


Oh cr@p, I could be done for racism here.....

The point isn't that you would be able to recognize her. The point is, she was dressed like any other wealthy woman walking around Europe in the summertime, but it was assumed that she couldn't afford something because...well, you tell me? Do you really think that a thin blonde woman in a designer dress who walked into a boutique and enquired about a handbag that would net a sales clerk a huge commission would be told that something was too expensive?

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

It's seems pretty obvious that the shop assistant saw a black woman and immediately stereotyped her as being too poor to buy an item.

In what alternate reality is that not racism?

And Switzerland is a notoriously racist country.

Hate the "Didn't she know who I was?" attitude though. You might not be so well known outside Anglophone countries, Oprah!

southsiderosie wrote: »

The point isn't that you would be able to recognize her. The point is, she was dressed like any other wealthy woman walking around Europe in the summertime, but it was assumed that she couldn't afford something because...well, you tell me? Do you really think that a thin blonde woman in a designer dress who walked into a boutique and enquired about a handbag that would net a sales clerk a huge commission would be told that something was too expensive?

Do you mean to say that the sales assistant gave up "a huge commission" just to be racist?
I imagine that she would have orders from on high to make a judgment before taking down the bag. If you were in that money league would you like if lots of people had their sweaty hands all over it like an auld ones feeling a loaf of Brennan's bread? Now, whether Oprah is black or white or from Mars doesn't come into it, the sales person made a decision. In the decision making business, regardless how clued in you are, you will occasionally make a mistake. If Oprah came the old "do you know who I am" bit she would have been castigated for it. Plus it would have embarrassed the owner who was also a guest at the Turner wedding. But, skilled in communication, she left quietly - thereby taking the high ground. And she still managed to embarrass the owner. Afraid I had to omit the word "moral" as it makes a strange bedfellow with someone spending that amount on a handbag.

WilyCoyote wrote: »

Do you mean to say that the sales assistant gave up "a huge commission" just to be racist?
I imagine that she would have orders from on high to make a judgment before taking down the bag. If you were in that money league would you like if lots of people had their sweaty hands all over it like an auld ones feeling a loaf of Brennan's bread? Now, whether Oprah is black or white or from Mars doesn't come into it, the sales person made a decision. In the decision making business, regardless how clued in you are, you will occasionally make a mistake. If Oprah came the old "do you know who I am" bit she would have been castigated for it. Plus it would have embarrassed the owner who was also a guest at the Turner wedding. But, skilled in communication, she left quietly - thereby taking the high ground. And she still managed to embarrass the owner. Afraid I had to omit the word "moral" as it makes a strange bedfellow with someone spending that amount on a handbag.

This is exactly my thoughts on it too. I think Oprah had a little "do you know who I am?" moment in her head and decided to make a song and dance out of it. There is **** all racism involved in this story, just a massive ego that got a bit bruised.

April O Neill wrote: »

And Switzerland is a notoriously racist country.

Hate the "Didn't she know who I was?" attitude though. You might not be so well known outside Anglophone countries, Oprah!

Really? I spent a lot of time there and didn't see it. Lots of emigrants doing the menial stuff. I imagine the shop is in that wide street at right angles to the main train station. I saw shoes there for 3,000Sf about 20 years ago.