Oprah Swiss Racism Row

[icyfroth]

Good morning all

A Swiss luxury boutique denied any wrongdoing Friday after US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey claimed she had been the subject of racism when a shop assistant allegedly refused to show her an expensive handbag.

Oprah's widely publicised claim comes amid a row over racism in Switzerland, where a move to ban asylum seekers from some public facilities including swimming pools and gyms has sparked a storm of protest.

Oprah Swiss Racism Row

She did not directly describe the incident as racist, but recounted it after telling King of a "racist moment" in New York years ago when she and her hairdresser were refused entry to a luxury store which had been robbed previously by two black people.

Switzerland takes in more asylum seekers than any other European country as a proportion of total population -- four or five times more than France, Italy or Germany.

and we think we've got it bad

But over the past three decades, Swiss voters have regularly backed tougher asylum laws, most recently in a plebiscite in June that removed desertion from the military as grounds for receiving a safe haven.

sounds like a good move

[***super_nova***]

Well, it does not look like the girl refused to serve Oprah:

"

Boutique owner Trudie Goetz told Swiss public broadcaster SRF that she believed the incident was a misunderstanding when the store clerk, who is mainly an Italian speaker, explained how expensive the bag was.

"I'm very sorry about this incident," Goetz said. "And this can only happen because of a communication problem and a misunderstanding.

"The shop assistant apparently asked her (Oprah) if she would like to see the bag, but she apparently said `No, I just want to look'. And then she (Oprah) asked how much the bag costs and she (the employee) told her how much the bag was."

Goetz added that "I believe she rather said something like `we have some less expensive' – `we also have some less expensive bags' and not `it's too expensive for you.' "

[izabsmiling]

Tourist body 'fuming' over Oprah 'racism’

Swiss tourism officials have expressed dismay over an upmarket Zurich store's refusal to sell celebrity US talk-show host Oprah Winfrey a handbag, in what she describes as a racist incident during her visit last month to attend Tina Turner’s wedding.

 http://www.thelocal.ch/20130809/oprah-winfrey-victim-of-racism-in-zurich-luxury-boutique

[the_great_she_elephant]

Switzerland is a strange country. Swiss women didn't get the right to vote till 1972.

[cherry*135]

If I (European descent) went it to that same shop or another one similar next week and asked to see/handle a 35 000franc handbag, and they told me no it is too expensive for you... what would that be called?

[just_me_karen]

Assuming you could afford it, it'd be a form of bigotry if they made judgement of you.

[izabsmiling]

and it would be a lost sale for them.

That poliical party is too far right imo

[icyfroth]

The first bag's $ value was about $38,000!

None of the bags in that shop would have been cheap!  Certainly not the standard type of bag you get at Strandbags for $69.99!

I think the shop assistant might've felt sorry for the crocodile and just wanted to flog the other bag.

[***super_nova***]

I saw Oprah yesterday saying that the girl "must have known who I am".  Gosh, how presumptious!!!!!!!!!!! 

[icyfroth]

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@***super_nova*** wrote:

I saw Oprah yesterday saying that the girl "must have known who I am".  Gosh, how presumptious!!!!!!!!!!! 

---

I thought the same.

[izabsmiling]

From comments made around the net..I'm sensing that it makes a difference that she may not have looked like her TV self and/or that the shop assistance may not have known who Oprah is.I don't think her show is aired in Switzerland?

Perhaps going by that she should wear a badge that says who she is so that shop assistants in future tell the difference between her and other women of Indigenous African appearance

and know that because she is Oprah ,she is one women of Indigenous African appearance who should be shown the hand bag.