Oprah’s Not Going to Let Hermes Wiggle Out of its Blatant Racism
Date: Sunday, June 26, 2005
By: Deborah Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Not many of us can relate to shopping at the Hermes store in Paris -- especially not when the purpose was to buy an expensive watch for Tina Turner -- but we can most certainly identify with the kind of exceptional treatment Oprah Winfrey got from the house of Hermes recently.
According to informed sources, store personnel rebuffed the queen of talk and queen of media -- a legitimate entertainment mogul, a billionaire philanthropist, a mover and shaker if ever there was one -- because they had been having “problems” with North Africans and apparently saw African-American Oprah as just another potential troublemaker.
Oprah is said to be furious and intends to present her case to her 22 million die-hard fans when “The Oprah Winfrey Show” returns from summer hiatus.
Indeed, hell hath no fury like a billionaire black woman with an internationally popular TV show scorned.
Actually, we could fill an entire network with stories like these. Some would be more dramatic, more outrageous than others, but there would be no dearth of material to fill the broadcast hours. Programming for that piece of reality television would range from big picture, institutional affronts like redlining, to everyday slights, like being followed around a store by the security folks.
As it stands, we will have to let the weight of the argument ride on Oprah’s shoulders for now, but what capable ones they are. Her credibility, her outreach and her influence are unshakable. She will leave no room for Hermes to wiggle out of this one.
The ultimate prize from the exposure will not be Oprah’s scoring a series of apologies or special dispensations from the store, but for Hermes to abandon its discriminatory policy against the black men and women without famous faces who want to shop there. I can’t imagine why black people from anywhere would still choose to give their money to the place, but it should at least be their call (Then again, I wouldn’t spend $6,500 on a purse if I had all the money in the world.).
I had a similar brush with this brand of discrimination nearly 30 years ago, when my oldest child was born. A wealthy colleague had given me an expensive christening gown for her which I did not need and decided to exchange.
The tiny gown had come from a very exclusive store -- really exclusive in the 1970s -- and while at the counter, I overheard the clerk urging a white customer to complete an application for a store credit card. After I completed the return, I asked for an application just for the heck of it. The woman told me the store was no longer opening new accounts. I asked to see the manager.
A few minutes later, the clerk returned with the manager by her side. As they walked toward me with downcast eyes, the clerk whispered nervously to her boss -- briefing her on the talking points, I presumed.
The older woman looked up at me with a no-nonsense expression and began to ask how she could help me when -- Eureka! -- she seemed to recognize me and broke into a smile.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “You’re the girl on TV!” She whipped out an application.
“Never mind,” I said. “Some black woman might come in here with more money and a better credit history than I have, but I guess she wouldn’t get an application because she’s not on TV.” I have not set foot in that store since that day.
And that’s where Oprah’s encounter with Hermes strikes the sorest nerve. While there is a dispute about whether the Hermes people recognized her or if it was one of those they-all-look-alike moments, the point is, it shouldn’t matter. As long as a black customer has to wear her resume on her sleeve, has to bring her walking papers, has to prove that she is a Super Negro, a business may as well hang up pretending to be fair.
Unfortunately for Hermes, they didn’t just shun a young shopper of modest means who happened to be on TV. They dissed the woman who is TV.
And stepped in it, for sure.
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Monday, June 27th 2005 at 12:39PM
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