South Africa is definitely in need of help. That nation is still victimized by the apartheid that officially ended nearly 20 years ago. Apartheid was sustained by violence and in its aftermath the country is still racked by one of the highest rates of violence of any nation on earth. That evil system would not have existed if wealth were not concentrated in the hands of the white minority. A change in government didn’t inspire that minority to hand over cash to the millions whose labor they profited from. They still have the money and black South Africans still have poverty. The nations also suffers from the world’s highest rates of HIV infection.
Oprah’s school cost $40 million and will accept 150 girls, all hand picked by Ms. Winfrey. The recipients of her largesse are surely not complaining, but what is the justification for spending $40 million to educate so few people in a country that needs so much?
The school is a 22 acre, 28-building complex that features a yoga studio, beauty salon and sheets with a 200-thread count. Each girl gets a large closet for her small wardrobe and will eat food on the best china plates. Ms. Winfrey has determined that education can only take place in the lap of luxury.
“What is the justification for spending $40 million to educate so few people in a country that needs so much?”
When asked why she had to travel so far away to help the down trodden, she said that too few black American kids care about education.
"I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there. If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school."
Imagine that. Teens think about getting the latest cool gadget. It isn’t a crime and it isn’t proof that they wouldn’t want better schools and educational opportunities. Oprah’s actions are also more than a little contradictory. Why criticize African American kids for wanting fun but unnecessary items and then insist that South African kids have even greater extravagance?
Oprah is right that primary and secondary education is free in America, but higher education certainly isn’t. Tuitions at public universities, once the guarantors of education for all, are skyrocketing. Most Americans now graduate from college with crushing loads of debt. Of course she can spend her money however she chooses, but Oprah might want to seek out the non-Ipod happy American kids who are struggling to get a college education.
It isn’t clear how many youngsters expressed an insufficiently ardent desire for education, but apparently the numbers were large enough to send Ms. Winfrey in search of more grateful subjects. Her charity did not come without complications, however. The South African government was so under whelmed by the whole idea that they withdrew support for the project. As one official put it, "The country is very obviously poor, and so few children have a chance at education. It is hard not to see that many feel that what Ms. Winfrey is doing is too much."
“Oprah might want to seek out the non-Ipod happy American kids who are struggling to get a college education.”
Oprah Winfrey achieved great career success after graduating from Tennessee State, a historically black college in Nashville. Oprah probably lived in an ordinary dormitory room and had a roommate or two. She managed to do just fine although she lived without the trappings of needless excess during her college years. It is unclear why she thinks that South Africans can’t do the same thing.
Every human being needs recognition, but that recognition can often do great damage. Wesley Autrey may be in some danger himself. Rescuers dubbed heroes tend to have a hard time when their fifteen minutes of fame end. The Oklahoma City bombing, September 11th attacks, and coal mine disasters have all ended with the suicides of people who performed heroic deeds and received too much press attention afterwards. Autrey hinted at some of the problems he may face. "It's all hitting me now. I'm looking, and these trains are coming in now. ... Wow, you did something pretty stupid."
Oprah’s fame will probably go on forever and hopefully her philanthropy will too. In the future perhaps it will be less extravagant and less dependent on Oprah’s personal judgments. Maybe South African girls can get an education without sleeping on the best, most luxurious sheets. After all it is the deed that matters, not recognition for the hero.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. When sending email, please remember to replace the (at) with @.
Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
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