Oprah Winfrey is catching some flak for the latest episode of her Apple TV+ series, “The Oprah Conversation,” featuring former NFL star Emmanuel Acho, who hosts a web series called, "Uncomfortable Conversation with a Black Man." Their discussion centered on white people and their apparent inherent racism. Winfrey encouraged her white viewers to acknowledge that they will always have a "leg up" in culture because of the color of their skin.
“There are white people who are not as powerful as the system of white people — the caste system that’s been put in place," Winfrey said. "But they still, no matter where they are on the rung or ladder of success, they still have their whiteness.”
“You still have your whiteness," she added. "That’s what the term ‘white privilege’ is. It means that whiteness still gives you an advantage, no matter."
And now she's being called a fraud, most notably by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who suggested that she was the one engaging in racism.
Billionaire Oprah lectures the rest of us:
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 5, 2020
"You still have your whiteness. That's what the term 'white privilege' is. It means that whiteness still gives you an advantage, no matter.”
What utter, racist BS. https://t.co/02PADVJkrZ
Cruz wasn't the only one to point out Oprah's wealth ($2.6 billion according to Forbes), and call her a hypocrite. While others noted that the only "privilege" present in this country is "American privilege."
And now why is Oprah, maybe the richest black woman in the world, trying to shame white people as privileged? Miss Winfrey, you are the personification of WHITE PRIVILEGE!
— Irene Armendariz-Jackson (@ArmendarizDis16) August 4, 2020
Oprah is a billionaire, one of half a dozen African-American billionaires & 880,000-plus black millionaires in America. There is no white privilege or black privilege, there is only American privilege thanks to America's color-blind free-enterprise system!https://t.co/FQzQMHO3zt
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 5, 2020