Shame on Oprah
I don’t usually watch her; she makes me uncomfortable in her ‘know it all but pretend to be humble’ persona on TV. Now I know why.
Oprah is apparently, a disa-phobe. Phony in her ‘magnanimous mom’ way of acting like she’s cool with physical anomaly.
Maybe she’s only comfortable with her own physical bag, the ‘large lady’ thing she truly DOES embrace. Then again, HOW many diets has she hyped? See the inconsistency here?
I wouldn’t even bother except that this is the 20th anniversary of the passage of the A.D.A, The Americans With Disabilities Act. Not exactly a good time to be inquiring of a new mom “Does he have all his fingers and toes?” as she did just the other day on live TV, when a woman in the audience was rushed to the hospital with a preemie baby unexpectedly announcing his arrival.
The FIRST words out of Oprah’s mouth were ‘Does he have all his fingers and toes?”
I repeat this because I want to make myself clear on one thing on this auspicious occasion of remembering and honoring the re- authorization of a very big and important aspect of the original Civil Rights Act of 1964. That the way we either choose to dignify diversity or point it out as a ‘concern’ is a major part of the intent of the A.D.A, passed into law this week in 1990.
Yes, that’s right, the ADA is nothing more (nothing LESS!) than a reminder and re- enervation of that most important legislation which put ‘Equality’ and ‘American’ in the history books together. But it was a necessary reframing of an issue that had become the ‘bastard child’ of the Civil Rights Movement. True, People of Color (Oprah?) were the main issue, but a lesser known and therefore lesser enforced chunk of that incredible legislation was intended to protect those of us who have unconventional bodies. The A.D.A had grown necessary because too many employers and builders were simply ignoring the needs of the one in ten of us who have unique talents. I mean, special needs.
The sad truth was that, for decades in post industrialist/ public school America, a person who used a wheelchair or needed extra time to complete typing class (like me, who wasn’t even allowed to be in that class in the first place) would be ignored or excluded from ordinary life activities and employment simply because our handicaps (icky word, I know) were perceived as being inconvenient or expensive to accommodate.
By re enforcing that smaller part of The Civil Rights Act, we disparate and diverse ‘freaks of nature’ ( I say this with tongue in cheek and a loving heart), had our Day of Recognition. Because I and my then husband and co anchor at KCBS Los Angeles, Jim Lampley, had worked hard to help create awareness for the A.D.A, we were invited to D.C. to receive the Bob Dole Foundation Award as way to say thanks for our efforts. It was a moment I will never forget, and one I WISH Oprah would remember.
I met Oprah a long time ago, when I was invited to be on her show, covering a topic she seemed to like discussing ,before all that glam thing happened to her. This was the Old Oprah. Her empathy on that episode was real; I felt it. This ‘old Oprah’ is the one I choose to remember.
Count my fingers and toes, and my children’s fingers and toes as whole and human. No newborn should be subjected to ‘digitizing’ baby body parts as ‘proof’ he or she is okay. Shame on you, Oprah!
August 31st, 2010 at 2:17 am
All I have to say is that you deserve the congressional medal of honor for your humanitarian efforts. YOU are truly a HERO! I am so disgusted at Oprah’s behavior, I wish this story was top news so the world could see what an endorsement opportunist she really is -and how sad it is that her behavior is somehow mistaken as philanthropy. You are THE REAL DEAL, my dear, and you are beautiful & wonderful & purely inspirational!
October 2nd, 2010 at 4:03 am
Very well put together, very well said and beautifully turned at the end. Yet one more reason to think you’re wonderful.
January 19th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Thank you so much for this. I have been a fan since I first saw you on the local San Diego News. I had grown up in Hollywood, where the cliches of superficial beauty were too painfully true. At one point, before I moved to S.D. I aquired a scar on my lip, that people perceived as a cleft palette, another genetic difficulty folks deal with. I learned so much about people’s inner beauty as they could look right at it, and make me FEEL beautiful. As watching you succeed, as always done. Thank You.
P.A.
February 24th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Thank you so much for all you have done. You are an amazing person and one hell of a report. We, viwers, miss you back here in San Diego. I just so value your write this peice.
May 5th, 2011 at 3:44 am
I was born the same as Bree and believe me all what she says on the subject, she’s right. Everyday we have to endure people like Oprah and the general public. The one’s that don’t do us any favours are the celebs who patronise us for their own ends/gains, even if from different cultures (me UK). Keep up the fight Bree x
June 12th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
We have become so rich we can afford to ruin ourselves. Oprah is just one of the countless ruined hearts in our society. The real hearts get fewer these days. I know what it is like to be cast aside but such stories need another place. I like your writing. And you and your children are always welcome in my heart. My world hasn’t much but my heart is open.
November 12th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
I met a little boy on the weekend who had Ectrodactyly, he was happy and playing. None of the other children took any notice of his hands or feet, or that he was different in any way. As a rehabilitation doctor I was looking at how functional his hands were and his mum said his only problem was keeping up with his twin brother when they were climbing things. Anyway, I was just hoping that his generation will grow up to see people as simply other people, regardless of physical differences.
Lucy, Sydney, Australia
November 18th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Loved watching you here in SanDiego you go lady
November 19th, 2011 at 1:34 am
Is everybody forgetting that worked in LA too. I believe it was CBS. Bree I’ve always thought you were & still are a beatiful woman .
November 19th, 2011 at 1:35 am
Is everybody forgetting that you worked in LA too. I believe it was CBS. Bree I’ve always thought you were & still are a beatiful woman .
December 3rd, 2011 at 8:56 pm
My husband still misses you on TV in San Diego. Today he asked about you, so that’s why I’m here.
Also my hands are red and peeling from psoriasis and so many people ask me what it is that I feel for you Bree. Our hands aren’t THAT bad. We can’t hide them and we are not contagious.
No matter what’s strange in one’s appearance, SO WHAT!
December 12th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
hi i too was born with ectrodactyly which means i have 3 fingers on both hands and 2 toes on both feet and im proud of myself i love my hands and feet and i always will, yes i have been called names in the past but i finally got tired of it and told them GOD made me this way and im happy and theres nothing you can do or say to change that so deal with it and i’ve never been teased after that and now a days nobody even notices my hands and feet unless im talking about them or i put my hands on the table when im drawing and even then they ask me a few questions about it and i love answering them and after that its like the best feeling ever and i have NEVER hid my hands away from people i want them to see them so that they can see that just because i have less fingers and toes than you doesnt mean i cant do the same things as you can you and your kids are my inspiration and i thanks you guys every day as well as god
December 19th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
I met a person once with the same condition as you, Bree, and didn’t even notice it until she brought it up. I also have a close friend who is blind, though I haven’t spoken to him in a while.
Until people learn to be physiology-blind as well as colorblind, we’re never going to realize that people are just people.