Political Notebook

This is sourced from Sowetan.co.za...

Talkshow diva Oprah Winfrey is a woman of incredible stature who has achieved amazing things.

These achievements include being the recipient of the 2004 UN Association of America’s Global Humanity Award. She is also the first black person to make it into Business Week’s top 50 list of the most generous philanthropists in the US. She has given an estimated R1,8billion to charity.

People who watch her shows will remember how she showers her mixed-race studio audiences with incredible gifts, including cars and expensive jewellery.

Many will also recall how Winfrey expelled international designer Tommy Hilfiger from her show. This was after Hilfiger had confirmed the racist remarks he had made about him not wanting African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and Asians to wear his clothes.

Despite all this, in South Africa Winfrey has been branded a racist by some whites.

Her sin? Her decision to give 150 poor black girls an opportunity to get the kind of education that would equip them to achieve more in the future.

Without such an opportunity, trapped in the cycle of poverty these girls would most probably drop out of school before matric, and so become trapped in the poverty cycle.

This opportunity comes in the form of a R400million leadership academy for girls currently being constructed in Meyerton. The school will be opened in January with an enrolment of 150 girls aged between 11 and 15, They will be from grade 7 to grade 8. Upon completion in 2011, the school will admit 450 girls from grade 7 to 12.

Last week Winfrey came to South Africa and confirmed the admission of the first 73 girls. The next 77 will be announced soon.

Upon hearing that her daughter was admitted, one of the mothers called Winfrey an angel.

This angel’s other sin was the decision not to open the school open to children from rich families . Her target is girls from families with an income of less than R65000 a year.

In factSome of her rich critics argue that she should have allowed them to pay for their children because they can afford to do so.

By making the school exclusive to the disadvantaged girls she was discriminating, they argued.

It is common knowledge that most of the poor people in this country are black. This is so because they were the victims of a racist system that deprived black people were deprived of any opportunities for self-development.

Winfrey has said that she can actually relate to the girls’ experiences because she is also from a poor background – as a black person growing up as a black person in the racist US.America.

So what makes her racist for having decided that she would would use her wealth to ensure that these girls do not suffer the hardships that she went through?

One can only assume that those opposed to her initiative continue to harbour negative feelings about black people getting opportunities for self- improvement. Maybe they are the racists, not Winfrey.

For me a racist is someone who believes that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

I don’t believe Winfrey shares this belief.