Oprah in the news

Oprah Winfrey is back in the news. The last time she made headlines she was accusing a clerk of racism. It seems she experienced a racial snub while a customer at a high end retail boutique. Apparently Oprah felt she was ignored by a sales clerk because she was black. It was an amazing story. Oprah is one of the most recognizable people on the planet.  She is also one of the richest human beings in the entire world with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion. Still there are still some jerks around who would still be prejudiced against her because she is black. 

We can vouch for the fact there are jackasses everywhere who see nothing but skin color. We were in Oprah and Mr. Obama's very own city of Chicago just a few years ago when we learned firsthand that it is public policy in Illinois for governments there to not do business with firms like ours. The reason? It is state law that no white male owned money management firms with less than $10 billion under management can be hired to manage public funds. Nope we weren't snubbed by a clerk. We were snubbed by the state's laws. No doubt that law is unconstitutional. But who has the time or resources to fight "Jim Dove" laws in Illinois?

Back to Oprah. It seems her immediate family has revealed that she is a bully. Her dad Vernon and her stepmom Barbara had some very nasty things to say about her in a recently published article in a U.K newspaper. They say Oprah has repeatedly snubbed her dad and step mom over the years. Some of the things Oprah is said to have done go way beyond the sort of things a snooty luxury boutique clerk would do.

The good news is many things have changed in America since the days of segregation. People like Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas have managed to climb to the tops of the ladders in their respective professions. Others like Bill Cosby have done so too. On the other hand, other things have not changed. There are still jerks everywhere. There always will be. There are people like the jerk racist who snubbed Oprah at that posh retail boutique. And there are also jerk racists like State Senator Barack Obama who voted for laws in Illinois that discriminate against all white males.

We will never get rid of all the jerks in society and we will never get rid of all the racists. What America has done in the aggregate is good. It is good because the fair minded majority has made it possible for people like Winfrey, Cosby, Obama, or anyone else with some smarts and ambition to achieve their full potential.

There are still some really sad things about America. What is really sad is that with all Winfrey and Mr. Obama have accomplished in the U.S. they still pretend people with smarts and ambition are held back by racism.

Maybe Vernon and Barbara Winfrey have it right. Through the statements of Barbara Winfrey and her stepdaughter we can deduce that Oprah and that notorious clerk she have a bit too much in common. Maybe they are both jerks for different reasons. One is a small minded racist jerk and the other is just a jerk. You will have to figure out which is which.