Given that veteran talk show host Oprah Winfrey has a fairly mainstream public image, it will come as a shock to many that she flirted with endorsing the actions of rioters on her Tuesday night special on police violence as she gushed over video of a protester who gave a rant defending arsonists and looters.
After the woman's rant ended with a declaration that "they," referring to whites, "are lucky that what black people want is equality and not revenge," Oprah approvingly commented: "I just love that moment."
Liberal film maker Ava DuVernay then complained about those who condemn the actions of looters, suggesting that those who criticize such behavior do not sincerely care about blacks being killed by police.
On part one of her special, OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go from Here?, Winfrey brought up a video that DuVernay had sent her, and then set up a soundbite from a protester named Kimberly Jones, declaring that the protester "just let if fly."
A clip of Jones was then shown in which she began by rationalizing the actions of arsons:
KIMBERLY JONES, PROTESTER: So when they say, "Why do you burn down the community? Why do you burn down your own neighborhood?" It's not ours! We don't own anything! We don't own anything! There is -- Trevor Noah said it so beautifully last night. There's a social contract that we all have that if you steal or if I steal, then the person who is the authority comes in and they fix the situation, but the person who fixes the situation is killing us! So the social contract is broken!
Jones suggested that African-Americans would be justified in wanting "revenge" as she concluded her rant:
JONES: You broke the contract when, for 400 years, we played your game and built your wealth. You broke the contract when we built our wealth again on our own -- on our boot straps in Tulsa, and you dropped bombs on us! When we built it in Rosewood, and you came in and you swatted us! You broke the contracts, and they are lucky that what black people want is equality and not revenge!
Oprah responded: "I just love that moment."
She then turned to DuVernay -- who was one of many panel members -- and reiterated the point suggesting that blacks would be justified in wanting revenge:
OPRAH WINFREY: Ava DuVernay, you sent me that tape, and we were talking about that, and we were saying that lucky that what black people are looking for is equality and not revenge, and also indigenous people looking for equality and not revenge. You say that so many people have been sidetracked by the looting and have little regard for the truth of what's happening. Ava, you want to speak to that tape and this moment?
DuVernay began by recalling that she was unsure if Winfrey might be put off by the incendiary nature of the Jones rant, leading Oprah to again gush: "I love the end of it."
The liberal filmmaker went on to twice complain about those who are critical of the rioting as harming the message of peaceful protesters. She declared that such sentiment "sticks in my craw" as she concluded her response:
AVA DUVERNAY: No one's talking about, you know, the economic inequalities that may lead people to want to go through a glass door to get a pair of shoes. No one's talking about the systems that encompass all of the actions that we're seeing. But, truly, what sticks in my craw is that whole idea of, "Gosh, you know, if only they didn't break that window, I would have continued to care about this death."
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Tuesday, June 9, OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go from Here? Part 1. Click expand to read more:
Where Do We Go from Here?
6/9/2020
9:45 p.m. Eastern
OPRAH WINFREY: I know you all saw this video that went viral this week. I just want to pull a clip of it because of Kimberly Jones, who just let if fly.
KIMBERLY JONES, PROTESTER: So when they say, "Why do you burn down the community? Why do you burn down your own neighborhood?" It's not ours! We don't own anything! We don't own anything! There is -- Trevor Noah said it so beautifully last night. There's a social contract that we all have that if you steal or if I steal, then the person who is the authority comes in and they fix the situation, but the person who fixes the situation is killing us! So the social contract is broken!
You broke the contract when, for 400 years, we played your game and built your wealth. You broke the contract when we built our wealth again on our own -- on our boot straps in Tulsa, and you dropped bombs on us! When we built it in Rosewood, and you came in and you swatted us! You broke the contracts, and they are lucky that what black people want is equality and not revenge!
WINFREY: I just love that moment. Ava DuVernay, you sent me that tape, and we were talking about that, and we were saying that lucky that what black people are looking for is equality and not revenge, and also indigenous people looking for equality and not revenge. You say that so many people have been sidetracked by the looting and have little regard for the truth of what's happening. Ava, you want to speak to that tape and this moment?
AVA DUVERNAY, FILM MAKER: I love the tape. I sent it to you, and I said, "I don't know if you're going to like the end of this tape, but maybe you'll find some things in the inside that you like" because she gets a little riled up at the end. I said I love the whole thing -- I was surprised you wrote back and you were like, "I like the end of it," so I'm glad --
WINFREY: I love the end of it.
DUVERNAY: I'm glad you -- I'm glad you --
WINFREY: You think I can't handle a couple of cuss words? You think I can't handle a couple of MF's in there?
(…)
DUVERNAY: Certainly you have folks who have said, "You know, gosh, they're losing the message -- they're watering down the message because, you know, they protest in the day and they looted at night. This is, you know, taking the steam away from what the mission could be." I just really invite people to think about, you know, if you're concerned with the murder of black people by police, to be deterred or shifted because someone is taking a pair of jeans from a Target, then you have to look at how much you cared about the murder of the black people by the police to begin with.
It's as if, "I was going to care about black people being murdered, but that guy took those shoes, so I don't know now." That's how ridiculous it sounds to me.
(...)
No one's talking about, you know, the economic inequalities that may lead people to want to go through a glass door to get a pair of shoes. No one's talking about the systems that encompass all of the actions that we're seeing. But, truly, what sticks in my craw is that whole idea of, "Gosh, you know, if only they didn't break that window, I would have continued to care about this death."
