# What would you have done in Oprah's place (racism in Switzerland)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821 "2013-08-09T18:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/201 "2013-08-15T04:14:30Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > Hell, my broke ass self wouldn’t bother to “stoop” to explain myself to someone after three fucking attempts. Good god, was that really a robot she was interacting with? Because I’m having a hard time understanding how there was a “misunderstanding” after three fucking attempts. JS Are you sure there were three attempts? How do you KNOW that the store owner and sales clerk can’t be telling the truth? If you’re having a “hard time understanding” the “misunderstanding” maybe it’s because you won’t accept the poor clerks explaination as possibly being true. Are you suggesting that rich people always tell the truth and sales clerks always lie. I think Oprah should give all of the sales people in that shoppe a car. That way they’ll all know who she is and they will like her. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/202 "2013-08-15T12:44:05Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And yes, Rand, it was something - because the clerk has admitted she didn’t want to embarrass the customer with the price of the bag - something wrongly clued the clerk to “she can’t afford the bag.” i don’t think we have enough evidence to say this. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/203 "2013-08-15T13:48:09Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Are you sure there were three attempts? > > How do you KNOW that the store owner and sales clerk can’t be telling the truth? > > If you’re having a “hard time understanding” the “misunderstanding” maybe it’s because you won’t accept the poor clerks explaination as possibly being true. Are you suggesting that rich people always tell the truth and sales clerks always lie. > > I think Oprah should give all of the sales people in that shoppe a car. That way they’ll all know who she is and they will like her. Or not. And do only poor people tell the truth and rich people lie? Why are you assuming one way, while castigating someone else for assuming the other way? The clerk herself said she tried to lead Oprah to other bags, so I’m taking both their words for it. Also, Oprah never mentioned the store name or the clerk. Yet the clerk has given an _anonymous_ interview calling Oprah a liar, claiming that oh gosh, she just wish they could work things out privately, and Oprah has no tried to downplay the incident to let the clerk off the hook. While further being attacked by her boss. So let me tally that up. Yes, I think Oprah is the more believable one here. But I think that continuing to white knight the fantasy of the poor beleaguered shop girl in your head is a noble pursuit. Maybe a rich person ran over your dog? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/204 "2013-08-15T15:47:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s not what the insult refers to. Cite? What in the world else could it refer to? It’s about people who breathe through their mouths instead of their nose like high class people should. And of course it was racist. If it wasn’t, the first things out of their mouth would have been how it wasn’t racist and explaining what they really did mean. What we got was the most transparent example of an employer trying to save face. It was all about what the boss thinks she must’ve meant. Nothing from the lady herself on why she said it. And no, the fact that she doesn’t speak English well isn’t relevant–she speaks some language well, so ask her in that language. And why would you believe it was racism without evidence? Because she, a black woman affiliated with racism, said it was racism, and offered a reasonable way it could have been. The other people involved did not initially disagree with her version of events, and still have not come up with a reasonable answer that would not be racism. I mean, their apology was so ridiculous I thought for sure no one here would think it could possibly be accurate. All we get is the owner saying how good a person the sales lady was and how she’d never do something that bad. You know, kinda like how a mother defends her son when he’s accused of murder. It means less than nothing–it’s practically an admission. And now the owner’s getting all flaming mad, still without offering an alternate version of events. Why would this happen unless the owner didn’t actually have another explanation? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/205 "2013-08-15T15:54:23Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > i don’t think we have enough evidence to say this. What other explanation do you offer for that statement, then? I literally can’t come up with another one. “You don’t have enough money” has to mean that I’ve somehow sized you up and decided you don’t have enough money, and seeing that this was Oprah, that assessment was wrong. I guess we could allege that Oprah is making it all up, but then why didn’t anyone else involved dispute what happened? All we got was the aforementioned “mother of the murderer” defense. No one seems to dispute what was actually said. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/206 "2013-08-15T17:15:03Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > And do only poor people tell the truth and rich people lie? Why are you assuming one way, while castigating someone else for assuming the other way? The clerk herself said she tried to lead Oprah to other bags, so I’m taking both their words for it. Also, Oprah never mentioned the store name or the clerk. Yet the clerk has given an _anonymous_ interview calling Oprah a liar, claiming that oh gosh, she just wish they could work things out privately, and Oprah has no tried to downplay the incident to let the clerk off the hook. While further being attacked by her boss. > > So let me tally that up. Yes, I think Oprah is the more believable one here. But I think that continuing to white knight the fantasy of the poor beleaguered shop girl in your head is a noble pursuit. Maybe a rich person ran over your dog? Everyone is capable of lying. Everyone is capable of promoting their new movie, also. Given her history in TV and the beef lawsuit, Oprah is not so naive as to believe that “her” not mentioning the stores name or the clerks name actually provided any protection from the media or Oprah fans or race-baiters looking to play the race card. “You can’t afford it” does NOT automatically mean “people of your race/color/height/lack-of-posse can not afford it”. I see no racism during the interaction of Oprah and the clerk. None. I do see a lot of people trying to play the race card. Maybe they’ve confusing Oprah’s having an very exclusive “Black Card” credit card with racial inequality??? You can ASSUME racism if it makes you “feel” better that “a rich person ran over your dog” but I’ll wait for actual proof. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/207 "2013-08-15T20:35:52Z")
See, you apparently have conflated me with other people in your quest to save the shop girl. I said I know if it was racism because we don’t have enough evidence. But you seem to have some sort of grudge against rich people in general, so I’m done talking about it with you. Maybe the shop girl will call you? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/208 "2013-08-15T22:51:51Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > See, you apparently have conflated me with other people in your quest to save the shop girl. **I said I know if it was racism because we don’t have enough evidence**. But you seem to have some sort of grudge against rich people in general, so I’m done talking about it with you. Maybe the shop girl will call you? (Bolding and underlined for clarification) Please revise and resubmit your post for further consideration. Thank you for your time. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/209 "2013-08-15T23:41:22Z")
And I said I ain’t dealing with you no more. I don’t think with the evidence posted that there’s necessarily racism involved. Classism sure, but that’s all I’m positive of. But I have no stake in defending someone solely because I take issue with rich people. So that’s all on you and I’m done. Good luck again with the white knighting. I think you should keep it up until you get a cookie. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/210 "2013-08-15T23:44:33Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > For the record (And so I can be classified as a “racist” top!), I also see this as classist. The clerk \*might \* be racist too, but the incident doesn’t give us enough information to determine that as a fact. Oh, and for those who don’t have reading comprehension problems or a savior complex, here’s my opinion about whether or not it was racist, all the way back from the second page of this thread and my second post in it. Duh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821.md?page=10)