Oprah Declares Swiss to Be Racists; Time Magazine Obediently Piles On

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The TV queen got a lot of publicity mileage out of her accusations of racism from a Swiss store clerk who Oprah claimed wouldn’t show her a $38K handbag. It was fortuitous timing, since her first movie in years, The Butler, was about to open and has the theme of … racism.

When the clerk protested the veracity of the story, the Great Oprah backed off ever so slightly.

Plus, it appears that there may be a pattern in this behavior: in 2005 the TV diva made a similar accusation before the opening of the film Crash, produced by her company. Oprah complained about not being allowed into the Paris store Hermes, even though she arrived after closing time, and subsequently compared the experience to the theme of the movie — racism.

The attack & smear strategy of PR apparently works. The Butler opened at #1 and one survey found that 72 percent of ticket-buyers noted Oprah’s involvement as persuasive for bringing them to the theaters.

Interestingly, not everyone was buying the Swiss claim: a recent Google search for Oprah Race Hoax got nearly 800,000 hits.

Time magazine used the controversy to criticize the Swiss with a bash piece about diverse asylum seekers not getting a big enough welcome.

It’s true that the Swiss have been notably sensible in preserving their orderly nation from the hordes of invasive foreigners looking for freebies and to rearrange the cultural furniture via Islam. In 2009 the Swiss approved a referendum against the construction of more minarets. In 2010 concerned citizens voted for the deportation of foreign criminals.

And earlier this year the Swiss voted to tighten their nation’s asylum law, to discourage the many fleebags escaping the failed Arab Spring, etc.

How nice to be able to vote on such things directly!

The Swiss sign below says “Enough already! Stop mass immigration.”

Curiously, the Time piece does mention that Switzerland has a “generous asylum policy” but only after hundreds of words about how mean-spirited the Swiss are. Oprah must be grateful for the support.

Switzerland’s Xenophobia: It’s Not Just About Oprah, Time Magazine, August 13, 2013

The official website of Bremgarten, a picturesque Swiss