Oprah Says ‘Whiteness’ Gives White People an Advantage No Matter What

Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey talked about race and especially white privilege on the most recent episode of her internet series “The Oprah Conversation,” arguing that while “there are white people who are not as powerful as the system of white people — the caste system that’s been put in place — but they still, no matter where they are on the rung, or the ladder of success, they still have their whiteness.” Oprah’s guest was former NFL player Emmanuel Acho, who said America is “run by whites,” adding that he has warned his white friends about allowing their children to live a “white” life. Acho explained, “Here’s what I told my friends with their white children. Y’all live in a white cul-de-sac, in a white neighborhood, in a white city, in a white state. If you were not careful, your children will live their whole life white, and at 26, 27, they’ll end up being a part of the problem, because you just let them and allowed them to live a completely white, sheltered, and culture-less life.” Oprah also hosted a man named “Seth,” a self-described liberal who grew up in Manhattan in the 1970s, who said the “movement over the last month” has made him realize he is racist. Oprah asked, “You’ve become ‘woke’ during this period, and realized in that awakening that you are racist, right? I just want to know how that happened.” Seth said, “I realized that I couldn’t be not racist.  I realized that I either was a racist or an anti-racist, and I wasn’t — I’m not — an anti-racist.”