Happiness Is A Warm Jet

“And you get a degree! And you get a degree! And YOU get a degree! Whoooooo!”

Did you know that Oprah is rich? Like, really rich? And that she lurves it? Like, super lurves it?

Our fair Oprah is catching some flack for giving a commencement speech at Duke University where she started talking about how great it is to have money. This was not the whole speech, but you know folks. People don’t like it when you toss your jetliners in their faces.

But in O’s defense, homegirl was just keepin’ it real.

More after the jump.

It’s great to have a nice home. It’s great to have nice homes! It’s great to have a nice home that just escaped the fire in Santa Barbara,” she told the students. “It’s great to have a private jet. Anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn’t great is lying to you.

In today’s economy though, some folks simply aren’t interested in the Grand Dame of Daytime Talk shouting “I’m rich, bitch” and “Hide the money, ya’ll! There’s poor people around!” to a college crowd in light of this horrendous job market.

I know this blogger wasn’t interested in Oprah’s braggadoccio.

Sure, you can praise Oprah for not being a hypocrite. She’s rich and she’s proud of it. It’s kind of tacky to flaunt your riches in a recession, but whatever.

But here’s why she is hypocritical. Oprah flaunts her philanthropy. She’s one of the biggest givers in the country, donating millions each year to her various causes, so she has a right to do so. But how can a woman who opens up a school for girls in Africa, tries her luck at a vegan diet, and even launched a (failed) philanthropic reality TV show, flaunt the benefits of owning a private jet?

But the most hilarious of the criticism towards Oprah’s gauche wealth dropping came from some comments on WalletPop.com’s blog where one reader insinuated that Oprah’s success was simply due to Affirmative Action and that Oprah is *gasp,* a racist.

The Guilt Goddess of White Women; oh, we are Oprah fans to prove that we are not like our racist Fathers before us. Oprah a no talent news reporter pushed to the big time to cover up years of racism. Affrimative (sic) Action at its best.

One: I had no idea Affirmative Action could get millions of women, white and black, to go out and buy whatever book you were reading or whatever product you like. I had no idea it could make people like you or watch your show or make your show one of the top rated day time talk shows for decades or could put your face on the cover of countless magazines. I totally didn’t know it could do that. Why aren’t we all billionaires? Someone must tell me more about the “magic” of this “Affirmative Action.” Last I heard, all it did was make McDonnell Douglas stop throwing folks like my dad’s resume in the trash back in the 70s.

Two: I’m assuming the “Oprah is a racist” meme came from her supporting Barack for president. Countless white people have supported countless white politicians. Does that make them racist? I mean, really. I have a feeling that if President Obama hadn’t been the intelligent, talented man that he is Oprah wouldn’t have known his name, let alone supported him, just like white folks just don’t support some random a-hole because they look like them (unless they ARE racist). Usually they care about issues and crap, just like black people do. If black people simply voted based on skin color, Alan Keyes would be president and JC Watts would be king of something or other. Go back and come with something harder than that tired, lazy thinking.

Three: Oprah didn’t trick white women into loving her. They totally picked Oprah as their queen all on their own through the power of this thing called the “Free Market.” And last I checked she spends way more time placating women and pumping them up than making anyone feel guilty. Almost all her shows are about buying crap, living the good life, how you too can live the good life, look at this neat thing I just found, gurl, that man ain’t no good for you, here’s how to get a better man, I LOVE SOMETHING AND NOW I’M SCREAMING ABOUT IT!, celebrities, look at this new diet thingy I learned, GAYLE and jackleg therapy.

But yeah, she’s the white woman guilt queen and it’s all a conspiracy by I don’t know to make these white women love her black ass. Oh, OK … and that conspiracy is called …

THE FREE MARKET!

Watch Oprah’s whole speech here.

daniellebelton

15 responses to “Happiness Is A Warm Jet”

  1. Lili Avatar
    Lili

    Okay, Oprah is really, really rich and wants everyone to know it. It could also be that she is merely trying to encourage young people to work hard and aim high ‘cos you know – all we ever dreamed of was to own a private jet. Seriously. Oprah will be criticized no matter what she says or does and has been called every name from mammy to sell-out. There will aways be angry (and envious) idiots who will try to claim every achievement by a black person is as a result of Affrimative action – heck even the FL has had this thrown at her.Oprah should just do Oprah. With all that cash in the bank, she cannot lose…I still do not get why she is so popular with white middle-aged women……Or maybe I do. Whatever.

    Reply
  2. Luvvie Avatar
    Luvvie

    I’m so sick of White folks being sooooo quick to throw the "well you’re racist" too card back in our faces. I think that reader’s comments were completely idiotic. Reading it just lost me some IQ points. iCan’t with some people. If I was to start ranting about all the things wrong with her statement of the "logic" behind it, I’ll never stop.I, for one, said "YES OPRAH! Tell em!" She’s still way more humble than half of Hollywood (and ALL of Hip Hop) so…

    Reply
  3. Lisa J Avatar
    Lisa J

    Ya know, Oprah is the bomb, sometimes she does something a little kooky but most of the time, she is all right. She is a good rolemodel to women and men, boys and girls and she did it ON HER OWN. I think some people, usually white, are SOOOO racist that anytime a black person has ANYTHING whatsoever it is "Affrimative (sic) Action" and as I’ve said to my Mom and friends numerous times, BLACK PEOPLE ARE LESS THAN 13% OF THE US POPULATION, EVEN IF EVERY SINGLE MAN WOMAN AND CHILD OF OUR RACE GOT THE JOB, SCHOOL ADMISSION, ETC ETC TO THE DETRIMENT OF WHITE PEOPLE THERE WOULD STILL BE PLENTY TO GO AROUND FOR WHITE FOLKS TO GET PLENTY. Even if you added in the growing Hispanic population and the Asian population, still! Damn, they are 70+% of the population. And given our horrible education system, that usually does its worst for Black and Latino kids, coupled with the fact that to benefit from any AA you have to be at least QUALIFIED for whatever you are going for and given our population in prison, there are so few black folks even eligible for AA. It is usually white people who are losers or just barely getting by who rely on AA as a crutch anytime they don’t get what they think they deserve. I remember a discussion on my college alma mater’s listserve and someone woman commenting that her PhD scientist husband kept losing out on jobs b/c of AA, when hello black people and latinos are a sadly miniscule percentage of the PhD scientist population, and even if you add in Asians who are more over representative in that group, there are still jobs to go around. To top it off for all she knows, the "AA" hires she is referring to may have been more qualified!! Jeez. I also remember some case that was HUGE in the news about 2 teachers with "the same qualifications" who started at the same time and one was black and the other white, and they got rid of one, the white teacher I think, and a suit was filed and the court sided with the white person. Anyway, it turns out that of these "equally qualified" teachers the black one had an MA in teaching and the white one didn’t. So why was the black one the AA hire? DAMN, to quote Marvin "Make me Wanna Holla"Sorry for the long rant, Snob.

    Reply
  4. Adeshola Blue Avatar
    Adeshola Blue

    tell it!

    Reply
  5. Sidra Lestrade Avatar
    Sidra Lestrade

    I agree with Luvvie… most of Hollywood, and all of Hip -POP scream "I got money and I know, matter of fact I’ll take it out my pocket and thow it" with every new record, cars with 25′ rims, dress they’ll only wear once on the red carpet, (probably because they don’t actually own it). So what if she has a little – damn it feels good to be a billionaire moment. DEAL.WITH.IT!

    Reply
  6. dukedraven Avatar
    dukedraven

    I don’t think you get where Oprah is by being modest. It’s true, she has a huge ego and so do many other famous, rich people. I make allowances for her because of what she’s achieved in life. It’s none of my business, but I wonder how much of her income does she actually give away to charity. Even after philantrophy, many of the superwealthy still keep a huge amount of their fortune as much of the world starves. This is not a judgment, only an observation.

    Reply
  7. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    I love Oprah…she made her money the right way and on her own terms…instead of just going along to get along in the 80s…she dared to ask important questions about syndication and ownership…that is why she is so rich today…because she had enough intelligence and drive early on to make sure that she owned as much of her own brand as possible…she’s a real role model in that sense and more black people in the entertainment business need to get like her…that’s what pisses certain white folks off…Oprah owns Oprah…they have been so used to capitializing off our talents and claiming ownership of our brands…it’s irks them that one black person dared to read the fine print in the contract.

    Reply
  8. BluTopaz Avatar
    BluTopaz

    Oprah is human and has been so generous, blah blah so she is allowed to act a little loopy sometimes, But if I had been one of those Duke grads sitting there with no interviews lined up her speech would have pissed me off. I would have wanted to go up to her afterwards and say ‘ok bitch is Harpo hiring?’ That photo above looks like she is saying i can buy every last one of these white men up here too!-lol

    Reply
  9. rikyrah Avatar
    rikyrah

    I remember a show with Diddy and Oprah was like, ‘ I don’t understand this guilt about money thing’, and Diddy was like, ‘ tell me about it’.They were both like, ‘ We was born ‘Po and we’ze RICH, and ain’t NOBODY gonna make us feel bad about it.’I LOL at them, and nodded in agreement. I’m not gonna ever be an Oprah hater. When I read that she named her estate in Santa Barbara – Promised Land – I LMAO. Oprah is Oprah.

    Reply
  10. rikyrah Avatar
    rikyrah

    I don’t think you get where Oprah is by being modest. It’s true, she has a huge ego and so do many other famous, rich people. I make allowances for her because of what she’s achieved in life. It’s none of my business, but I wonder how much of her income does she actually give away to charity. Even after philantrophy, many of the superwealthy still keep a huge amount of their fortune as much of the world starves. This is not a judgment, only an observation.I think it’s 10% yearly.

    Reply
  11. dukedraven Avatar
    dukedraven

    Actually, I’m not suggesting that she and Diddy feel guilty about anything. Guilt is negativity and it won’t change anything. It’s their money and they entitled to spend it anywhere they want. It must be a power trip, though, to know you have hundreds of millions sitting in a vault while half the world can’t get enough to eat.

    Reply
  12. khrish Avatar
    khrish

    If I were rich I’m brag about it too. What’s wrong with that. At least she hasn’t gone about setting up schemes to take other people’s money to add to her own. I see nothing wrong with telling people how wonderful it is to be rich….people have no problems with telling you how terrible it is to be poor. She worked for it, she had a plan and she should be encouraging this young people at Duke (the rich school) to implement a plan to become rich. Brava Oprah!

    Reply
  13. kate nyc Avatar
    kate nyc

    Catch President Obama’s speech at ASU. He’s above this."…reject the greed and irresponsibility that rippled out from Wall Street and Washington," contributing to the nation’s economic troubles…pursue a bigger purpose…through service and a principled approach… that other stuff, the trappings of success may be a byproduct of this larger mission, but it can’t be the central thing…just ask Bernie Madoff."I’ll take Obama.

    Reply
  14. DH Avatar
    DH

    Duke University has a history of major race relation issues. I was surprised Oprah was even going to be the keynote speaker. Oprah has accomplished great goals, and it has absolutely nothing to do with race & everything to do with talent and favor on her life.

    Reply
  15. VanityReloaded Avatar
    VanityReloaded

    Not big on the Oprah show and magazine but I PRAISE her work!! Intelligent, successful, black woman! Lovessss what she represents! You go girl!

    Reply

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