Many of you may recall Oprah’s recent comments regarding her sense that Americans disrespect Obama because he is black. In response, Mark Joseph, writing in his USA Today column, “No, Oprah, America isn’t racist,” argues that she’s “living in another era” and illustrates his point with a rather compelling argument:
Because it is more often than not Tea Party types who are accused of racial hostility toward Obama, I have a parlor game I play with my white conservative friends that tells me everything I need to know about the state of race relations in America.”If your daughter were thinking of marrying a man like Clarence Thomas or one like Chris Matthews, which would you choose?” I ask.The answer is quick and unanimous: They’d choose to spend their holidays with a son-in-law who looks nothing like them but shares their values rather than one who merely shares their skin color.
My response is equally quick because there is absolutely no contest here. As a white TEA Party “type,” I’d far rather my daughter (if I had one) marry someone like Clarence Thomas than someone like Chris Matthews. Of course Chris Matthews is a particularly awful example, but even without the Obama-inspired tingles up his leg, he’d be far less welcome at my family gatherings than Justice Thomas. Values, the content of one’s character, mean a great deal more to me and mine than skin color. I’d venture to say this is true of the majority of TEA Party members and other conservatives.
Not that we’d ever convince the left of this fact. But we really don’t need to, especially if more people like Joseph write such columns in “mainstream” outlets like USA Today.
Of course, racism is Oprah’s “go to” explanation for any and all perceived slights, so whether she is living in another era or is simply in denial about the millions of white Americans who made her the multi-billionaire she is today, we can expect more of this from her in future.
(Featured image credit: YouTube)
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