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Hi Readers,

I have to admit that I am still reeling from Rae Dawn Chong’s verbal attacks on Oprah Winfrey this week.

It was very disconcerting to hear Chong call Oprah a House Nigger.

Wow!!!!!!!

I smirked when I first read the headlines.

Chong-a woman of mixed ancestry……

In light of recent (biracial) Black Americans opting to subordinate their Black ancestry, I thought Chong would have adopted a softer stance on the race issue.

However, after reading a synopsis of the interview, I realized that Rae’s verbal disrespect wasn’t really about race but more about jealousy and envy!!!!!!

Chong on Oprah’s Looks…..

As you know by now Oprah is no stranger to criticism concerning her looks.

Her battle of the bulge has become legendary in the annals of tabloid history.

Rae states that due to her looks, Oprah “would have been a house keeper 60 years ago.”

There is a common wisdom in some quarters that Oprah’s fame is attributed to her looks.

I remember a former professor of mine once observing that Oprah’s warm reception by white America was due to the mammy image that she conveyed.

For those of you who are unaware, the mammy is a figure of the Black women concocted by whites pining for the “good old days” right at the era of the emancipation of Black slaves in the South.

She was often very dark, and very obese.

She often looked down her nose at her fellow Blacks.

She often considered her white employees her family and spent many years sacrificing the needs of her own family (if she had one) for the needs of the white household she worked in.

I winced at his observation because I was one of a few African Americans in the class.

His words struck a chord/nerve…..why?

If I am being honest, there is some truth to his words.

I remember in the early years of her show, she used to cry with her guests and they would cry on her shoulders.

Ouch!!!!!!

Readers forgive me…….

But sometimes I couldn’t help but notice that some of her teary eyed guests would be very dainty and white.

Next to them, overweight Oprah would seem bearish.

Her bigness and her Blackness were magnified.

Rae charges that Oprah brown-nosed her way to the top.

That may be…..

However, in my heart of hearts I concede that Oprah’s meteoric rise to superstardom was and is a combination of unique talent and hard work.

Rae also charges that in her work with Oprah, she came across as the fat chick that became the teacher’s pet and wanted everyone to love her.

Uhm Uhm Uhm…….

I guess I can visualize that.

Be that as it may, I want to make one thing clear….

Oprah is NOT A SELLOUT!!!!!!!

She is definitely a race woman.

I have read articles and seen shows where she has given honor and much deserved respect to our Black icons and legends

Diana Ross….

Aretha Franklin….

Tina Turner….

Chong also went on to acknowledge that Oprah has almost singlehandedly changed the game for women of color and big women in the media.

Definitely a thin line between love and hate!!!!!

What about Oprah’s critical reception among Black women?

For me the jury is half in on that one.

I have heard on numerous occasions my sisters bashing O.

Not just my everyday sisters, but our celebrity sisters as well.

Toni Braxton on a VH1 special took Oprah to task for berating her on live television because of her tax woes.

Legendary Gladys Knight states in her autobiography that Oprah was cool and reserved towards her.

It seems that Oprah just can’t win.

I hope in her golden years that Oprah has learned or is mastering the wisdom that she can’t be all things to all people.

That the only one that she can please all of the time is herself.

On a personal note, Oprah’s success has inspired me to believe that the impossible can become possible.

Much Love O!!!!!

Until next time…….