Question #9
Would Oprah Winfrey have been better off if the institution of slavery had never existed?
posted by Fenian Fox at 4:31 PM
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
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I hope my questions cause you discomfort. You don't learn anything by staying where you are comfortable. But ask yourself, if you don't like the question, do you have a good answer? I look forward to your comments and your question suggestions.
posted by Fenian Fox at 4:31 PM
2 Comments:
Well, first you have to answer, could Oprah Winfrey be better off?. Probably not. Considering that she is the multiple Emmy-winning host of the highest rated talk show in television history, an influential book critic, an Oscar nominated actress, a best-selling magazine publisher, and who according to Forbes magazine, is one of the wealthiest women in the world, I don't believe that she could get much better off.* The second question then becomes, would she be worse off had slavery not existed? I believe that Oprah's fame does not originate from her skin color or the history that comes with it, but instead from her ebullient personality and gregariousness. She is ultimately likable and that is why she is immensely popular and therefore successful. Could it be that her zestful enthusiasm is forced on her by the necessity to overcome the opressive societal weights of being both black and a woman? It's possible, but unlikely. People will attribute their success to any number of outside factors that usually have little to do with how they go to where they are. More often than not, success is a matter of being the right person in the right place at the right time. I would argue that, if anything, her status as an African American is correlative with rather than causative of her success. She neither gains nor loses credibility because of her skin color. She chooses not to parade race as a driving factor for the topics she cares about or the guests she has on her show. Her primary audience is in fact largely composed of white women. While one can certainly find other cases of individuals who have gotten to their position (or been prevented from getting to a position) because of the color of their skin or their gender, I don't believe Oprah fits into this category.
*Taken loosely from Wikipedia entry
You say that "More often than not, success is a matter of being the right person in the right place at the right time." Clearly Oprah would not have had her time and place without the historical fact of slavery. I doubt her "her ebullient personality and gregariousness" would have profitted her much if she were a resident of Rwanda, or really any other African setting in the last 400 years. Yet, the end does not justify the means. You can't endorse slavery because the descedants of slavery benefitted from the historical fact of slavery. Oprah became who she is because she reponded to the situation that she existed in. Yet, inasmuch as you cannot endorse slavery for its beneficial effects, neither can you condemn it based upon the descendants of slavery who have failed to responded to the overall beneficial effect of giving them residence in the richest country in the world.
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