"Whites" With A Cross To Bear?

Early this morning the news caught my eye in regard to comments that Ophra Winfrey made at Howard University with 2,200 soon-to-be graduates of the nation's most prestigious black university.

A woman who now holds a holds honorary doctorate in humanities, Oprah Winfrey rose from poverty and a troubled youth to become the most powerful and influential woman in television and, according to Forbes Magazine, the world's most highly paid entertainer.

As she stood in front of 30,000 people, Oprah gave encouragement to all graduates saying:

My integrity is not for sale, and neither is yours," Winfrey said at graduation ceremonies Saturday for Howard University, recalling times when she was under pressure to change course or avoid topics to boost ratings or appease advertisers. "Do not be a slave to any form of selling out. I stand here as a symbol of what is possible when you believe in the dream of your own life," Winfrey said. "Don't be afraid. All you need to do is know who you are.

She was exceptional with that and I was beginning to hear the compassion within her words as she spoke however she went a step further with this to become what I feel was an insensitive,unnecessary remark.

Winfrey said that while growing up her grandmother, a servant in 1950s Mississippi, hoped that Winfrey would "get some good white folks" to work for.

"I regret that she didn't live past 1963 and see that I did get some really good white folks — working for me,"

I want to believe that she was sincere in saying that she really does have good "white" people working for her and that this comment was foolish, insensitive, yet meant as a compliment.

Also the question surfaces " Isn't it a delight that when you become so big that your allowed to kill two birds with one stone?" I must admit that she is one of the cleverest women I know. She is able to compliment the "white" people, yet never let them forget.

Asking a question today of a dear blogger friend of mine, I ask " Would thinking that someone was predigest against white people mean that I could be predigest against them for thinking they were predigest?

Thank goodness there is some logical friends in my life. The reply was "Racism is racism and if you see it in someone of color does not mean that you are racist, but that they are."

I'm glad I'm just 46 and never experienced those days, yet at times I feel like we as the white generation of this age and time, will always have a cross to bear because of past history.