Oprah Winfrey’s $40 million girls’ school in South Africa opened its doors on Tuesday to 152 students handpicked by the media mogul.
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henly-on-Klip fulfills a promise she made six years ago to former President Nelson Mandela to give students a better future.
“I wanted to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim that light,” Winfrey said at a press conference, the Associated Press reports.
Mandela was among the guests at the opening, as were Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey, actors Sidney Poitier and Chris Tucker and director Spike Lee, according to the AP.
By providing education to the girls in the lavish setting, Winfrey said she hoped she could help “change the face of a nation” that had once been divided by apartheid. READ MORE at people>>
This woman is pretty much amazing. Yet, where there is good news, there is always someone looking for bad out of it.
TMZ reported that Oprah “dissed” American children in an article for Newsweek, which put speculation on why she rejected the idea of building a school in the U.S – saying “If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.”
I’m not going to get too deep into this, but there is a clear distinction between the conditions of children and education in Africa versus the conditions here. Do you guys think Oprah was not fair and should build a school here for disadvantaged inner city youth?
i think it was a good. regardless of where it was built. i wonder if theres a tuition… n if so how much.
oops i meant its a good idea*
… wow was i first? i know how much people beast over being first on CL. lolz
I am proud of Oprah. She has accomplished and done many things that others have yet or never will do.
About her dissing American kids, I don’t think it’s a diss. She is basically telling the truth. American kids are spoiled, all some of them want is luxury things that they see in videos, TV, and movies. Some people just need to leave Oprah alone and be glad that she has a good heart to do these type of things. We never know, she might one day open a college up her in the US since she pays so many college students here in the US tuition.
It is really ashame how many people take things out of proportion when someone is doing a good deed. Yeah we might need schools here in the US, but in Africa they are more needy and they will appreciate it.
It is always something wromg with this wrong with that, They need to just let Oprah spend her money like she wants. It is surprising how people want to make this out of controversy about her not doing for American schools when, We rarely hear people talk about Angelina Jolie or Even Madonna adopting the foreign kids from other countries, when millions of our own American children are living in poverty, no place to stay, no food, and are orphans. We never hear the press ask why they couldn’t save a child here in USA. Now have we?
#1 She said it was all free, no tuition or anything, everything free. The girls are even staying at the school. It’s sort of like a boarding school.
I agree with Babycheif_fl.
Im admiring Oprah now. wat she did is amazing and i dont think she was dissin. go head Oprah.!!
Oprah is awesome!!!!!!
It is very true what she has said. Kids here in America are so wrapped up in the unimportant things in life such as Ipods and sneakers , and really do not know how truly fortunate they are. Even the poorest child in America has a chance to be someone great if they are willing to do the work necessary to acheive ones goals. Oprah is a shining example of that. It just takes knowing that you really have the opportunity to do with your life what you can.
I applaud her for giving these extremely poor girls the means to shine their brightest. And I wish them all the best.
Oprah is so cool I absolutly love her .
and I totally agree with all the posts before me .
And the people who are judging Oprah I dont see them give 40 million dollars to build any schools . So they just should keep Quite
This is SOOOO beautiful to see. Education is a real gift because it’s the one thing that no one can take away.
I’ve traveled to Africa, and I know that kids there really RESPECT TEACHERS and VALUE EDUCATION. The value placed on education is much different when the choices for the common girl are go to school, sell something, or get married off at a young age so that they’re no longer a financial obligation to their family. A girl’s intelligence is secondary or even tertiary when it comes to survival and one has to sell rice, oranges, or whatever to help support the family. Yo, we have it easy in the USA.
Big up to O!!
Education is the key to success. Oprah has given the gift and promise of the finest education at the most important stage in a girl’s development. People can chastise her for building the School in South Africa; People can chastise her because she said American kids want iPods and Sneakers but she did what she set out to do. She has used her money for good. I don’t see too many people volunteering at their inner city schools here in America. How many American parents are doing the basics, PTA meetings, inquiring about their child grade or needs in school prior to being called by the school administrator. Oprah has provided these girls with a ray of hope when they did not have one. We don’t need more inner city schools in America. What we do need is a revamping of our attitude towards education. America needs to increase teacher’s salaries. Every parents need to become more involved in their kids education. Then and only then will we have a successful inner city school system in America.
#3, i co-sign what you said. here in the uk some kids don’t value the education that they’re getting for free. if a white celebrity had opened up a school in africa, haters would be the same people saying that black celebs should be doing that. Oprah do your thing! and as for the haters, make a few billion then you can try and say something.
oprah is heaven sent.it ain’t nothing but the devil stayin busy when god’s people is trying to do his work.keep doing your thang oprah
and she is right america is one spoiled country.the kids of today don’t know what it means to have a true education but ask them the lyrics to akon’s smack that and they’ll give it to you and tell you the meaning of the song without hesitating.
THIS IS GOOD NEWS.
THOSE GIRLS ARE BLESSED TO BE IN OPRAH’S ACADEMY.
She does GOD’S WORK on Earth.
I’ts a very special thing for Oprah to consciously help distressed little girls get a good cultured education.
That’s important bc little girls are targeted around the world.
AS far a the comment she made about the inner city students:
IT’S SAD BUT TRUE.
Our little girls over here in the ghetto are thrown to the wolves bc they are rarely taught jewels in life.
The only jewels they learn are platinum and gold.
WISDOM IS BETTER THAN SILBER AND GOLD.
We should teach our kids the truth instead of brainwashing them into leading a life of unfulfillment and materialism.
Good to see she’s putting the money into something positive like this. It’s not unlikely of her anyway.
The criticism is unfounded. Do you know how much Oprah is giving right here at home? Just look at all the work she did for the Katrina survivors. It’s incredible. Besides, Bill and Melinda Gates have already decided that education in the US is something that they’ll take care of.
Further, the poorest person in the poorest county in the US is wealthy compared to the poorest in the countries in Africa. No matter how destitute you are in the US, you have access to help (homeless shelters, public assistance, charity). In Africa, there is no such access.
Oprah is doing EXACTLY what she should be doing. And unless her critics are donating millions of dollars of their OWN MONEY to help people, they need to sit down and shut up.
what oprah said is true, im from Nigeria and im studying in the uk because my father can afford it but there are many unfortunate people in Africa who cant afford to even study in their country so i commend her for doing that.
In the uk, young girls and guys my age dont value education as much as we Africans do, education is free but they wouldnt go to school, and i think it is similar in the US, so oprahs statement is true, she built a school in a place where it would truely be appreciated.
Oprah Winfrey has the right to build a school wherever she wants.
And she also has a right to state her opinion about not building a school in the United States.
Oprah does have a valid point about American Children not placing a “value” on education. I wished she would have thought about the repercussions of her statement before making that statement, but it to late for that now…
People from other countries & continents already have a low opinion of African Americans.
There are already enough schools built in the US. What we need now is for parents and other caretakers to ENFORCE how necessary and valuable an education is to all of the misguided youth today. There are SOO many opportunities out there that are not being taken advantage of. But the youth culture here is so focused on things like gadgets and music and socializing. ANd the kids who DO value their education and are out there trying to make it get made fun of by other kids or treated even worse. Then there are the teachers who are only in it for the minute paychecks and having every summer off. Good teachers aren’t paid enough. Good students aren’t rewarded enough and good parents aren’t found enough. We’re in trouble here.
IT’S HER COINS..SHE CAN BUILD IT ON THE MOON IF SHE WANTS TOO…WERE I IN HER POSITION, I WOULD NOT HAVE BUILT ONE IN THE STATES EITHER…FOR WHAT !? WITH ALL THE $ WASTED BY THE GOVT IN THIS COUNTRY, WHAT IS THE POINT…
SCHOLARSHIP BASED PROGRAMS WORK BETTER HERE…
DJ MUTHA
Oprah’s statement is very true. This si why we have people who know nothing of their history nor care to learn anything. They take the images fed to them by media to be truths- ask a child what they want to become and you will be shocked at the answer. We as a Nation and a people need to do so much better.
oprah has done a very good thing. we have public schools here i america and oprah can not make up for what parents refuse to do. americans do not value free education and these children do. it is that simple.
now when will 50 cent and Luda build schools so young girls can learn to be smart enough to NOT wear panties and shake their naked asses in their stupid videos?
Nakia is speaking the truth! The media would like for us to believe that Oprah is dissing the inner city kids here. That is not true. As someone pointed out earlier, Oprah has provided millions of dollars worth of charity here at home. The difference between here and Africa are the values. America and African values are different. Here in the US, we expect to receive the best education, no matter where we live. As Americans, we are spoiled because education is plentiful here and always available unlike in Africa. I’m glad Oprah gave something more meaningful and worthwhile to the African people and their daughters. It sure beats a photo op and a lot of talk.
Oprah is right about American kids, even in the ghetto they got too much. They watch all these rap videos with the cars and jewels and think EVERYBODY has that stuff, not just the real small percentage of rappers. Although it was nice of O to build her school in South Africa, schools are REALLY needed elsewhere in Africa as South Africa is probably the nicest place to build one.
This what Oprah dear did was a blessing to these girls. The USA is so spoiled and we yet complaining. I dont know if its the media twisting this stuff or what. Those people in the other countries would die to come here they dont have that much freedom as we do.
You can’t expect for American students to value education when their idols are their local drug dealers, hip-hop artist and society. Our children see these drug dealers and hip hop artist who don’t have an education but have money. Our society states that if you don’t a stuff than you are a nobody. We learn at an early age that material things can bring you more friends than if you didn’t have anything.
I grew up wanting things but I also did well in school. My grandmother raised me and she attended every single PTA meetings and she also knew what was going on with me in school by talking with my teachers. Parents aren’t parenting in this way anymore. These kids today don’t have respect for their own parents and they take this same attitude and bring it into the schools and are disrespecting our teachers.
The value of education needs to start at home by the parents and not BET and MTV.
I feel her. Oprah wants to build something that will support people of a certain mindset. I’m sure if there were enough inner city kids who genuinely wanted to learn, she would. But the reality is, a good number don’t. And for those who do, it probably isn’t enough to build a school. Africa is in need. We are too. But who would appreciate it more? We expect a lot more from people who don’t owe us anything over here.
I think that Oprah did a wonderful thing by building this school in South Africa. I do not feel that anyone has the right to question where she built the school. It would be like you purchasing an item at the Gap and having to justify not purchasing it from the Banana Republic. It’s her money; she has the right to spend it as she pleases.
I don’t feel as if she dissed American children at all. People believe that when the truth hurts that it shouldn’t be spoken. However, had that school been opened here, it would not be as appreciated. Heck, I bet “Tony was here” would be plastered across a desk or wall by now.
Isn’t TMZ ran by white people? It doesn’t surprise that they would post something she said in order to try and tear yet another positive black person down. If Oprah did say it so what its kinda true kids here in America take education for granted. I mean I’m not pro Oprah by far but I like what she does for Africa its Great! Our motherland needs help badly and she’s helping more stars need to help. Plus Oprah has all kinds of foundations and scholarships here for inner city youths.
I agree 100% with #23…Some Americans do have the tendency to be spoiled and not realizing the blessing we do have.
I know there is alot of negative things about America but ya’ll know that alot of what we go through is nothing compared to those third world countries!
I think it was FABULOUS of Oprah to do this!
This is why I will always love and admire Oprah. And while these dumb ass rappers are complaining about her never wanting any of them on her show, they should take a cue from her and do something to affect young African American youth, or young people in general, in a positive manner.
That statement she made is wrong on so many levels. First, she needs to acknowledge the obvious difference between the 2 cultures. To keep it short, if she felt like the inner city kids were more focused on Ipods and sneakers, then she could have implemented a program or something to make them value an education. Too many people are trying to play “hero” outside of the US. Take care of home first.
I LOVE OPRAH! NOT TO MANY PEOPLE COULD AMOUNT TO HER SHADOW….OPRAH KNOWS SHE WILL BE JUDGED BY ONE PERSON….THE ONE PERSON THAT MATTERS. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS I WISH I COULD ACHIEVE AND GIVE BACK TO OUR PEOPLE THE WAY SHE HAS…..THIS IS BIGGER THAN THOSE CARS SHE GAVE AWAY!
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...prah_Winfrey#Philanthropy
I’m glad that Oprah made a school for these African girls. I do agree with everybody on kids being spoiled in America (even though you’re talking about me and my generation) , but don’t go thinking all of us kids are spoiled and unappreciative. I have learned to appreciate my life and education and plan to graduate out of high school and go to college. Though I do have family members and friends my age who are ungrateful, I cherish the fact that I have a good chance of having a good education. I’m also thankful for any gift I get, because I know that the person did not have to waste their time getting me a present.
Decysive said:
while these dumb ass rappers are complaining about her never wanting any of them on her show, they should take a cue from her and do something to affect young African American youth, or young people in general, in a positive manner.
————————-
TRUE!!
I salute Oprah cos she realises actions speak louder than words. By giving these girls a chance, hopefully they’ll achieve their dreams and won’t aspire to become the next hip-hop ho.
Oprah has always used her blessings to bless others.
And she has supported many historically Black Universities, most notably Morehouse College -
Over $10 million dollars to the Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholarship Fund, which to date has helped approximately 250 students from 20 states and seven countries to continue or complete their education at Morehouse College, an all-male historically Black institution.
“I think Oprah Winfrey expressed it best when she said: ‘When you empower a Morehouse man, you empower the world,’”
Go Oprah! I mean, your still spending less than 2% of your net worth, but hey, it helps and your doing more than most. Stop dissing Black men and you’ll be my hero again.
Why hate. She is making a difference. Their are plenty of millionares and billionares in the USA who don’t do anything with their money but make sure their daughters display how much money they have.
Although I feel we do need to take care of home it is not soley Oprah’s responsibility.
Also it’s true that some of the kids over their are leaving at a different level of poverty than we see here.
God bless Oprah and all who support charities.
Tianna,
I’m glad you are trying to be fair to Oprah in your posting of this article…here’s the difference between Africa & the U.S. At least we *HAVE* schools in the U.S. Those kids over there don’t have anything. Nothing. And she’s telling the truth, a lot of American kids don’t give a damn about trying to *really* learn. Most kids here are about fashion, entertainment, trying to hook up and being popular.
The sad truth is that education and studying is a very low priority for a lot (not all, but TOO MANY) U.S. kids and their parents. I’m glad she gave the money to kids that need it.
Though not a fan of O, Kudos to her for the school!
I just hope other multi-millionare black celebrities will also start to give a damn instead of WASTING their dough on cars, bling and numerous lavish homes.
They NEED to start with WEST ARFICA!
I have to give Oprah her props, she has and she is blessing others. As for her not helping out America, what the hell for, we have FREE education and don’t take advatage of it. We drop out of school, or if we go don’t do our best. It’s a shame we have yet to realize that education was not always given to us either and yet we treat it like trash, throwing it away. The children in South Africa will get an education, excel and then come to America and get a job because we didn’t take advantage of what we had. So don’t hate, appreciate.
she is doing something positive and it is great. kids here can go to school everyday for free and choose not to. our drop out rate here especially in the black community is so high, and all b/c we don’t value all the freedoms that our ancestors fought so hard for us to have. most kids only want to live the bet rapper lifestyle.
OK YALL KNOW ME, IM ABOUT TO PULL OUT MY CURRENCY CONVERTER AND CHECK THE EXCHANGE RATE IN SOUTH AFRICA, OPRAH PROBABLY PAID 2 U.S. DOLLARS FOR THAT SCHOOL LOL!
There is no way to compare, the level of poverty here, to over in Africa. Even the poorest of the poor, have access to food, and shelter, and even health care. In America there is always a chance for a come up. Africa, the medical care, food, & shelter there is pretty much obsolete. I think its a wonderful idea, that has come to life.. I truly hope those young ladies, will take this opportunity and carry on Oprahs legacy.
Yeah, I agree with a lot of the posts. Oprah, can only do so much. Yes, she has a lot of money…but she can’t go broke taking care of other people. So, she allocated the money toward the people who are in need. She also helped a lot of Louisiana residents that were misplaced because of hurricane Katrina. She came here to Houston and we all helped the people in the dome. Anyway, she has a great heart so don’t discredit her for making a difference even if it is in Afica. Those ARE our people too!
I don’t think Oprah disseed American children at all. She just spoke the truth. I do hope she would eventually build a school in the States, but until that happens I am all for her bringing education and better life to Africa.
Oprah will change the lives of so many children in Africa and I am filled with pride that a black woman is taking the initiative to change the world. Um…newsflash, American kids can go to school in America for free, get on government assistance if more help is needed and already have public access to all sorts of resources. We have more black actors, actresses, atheletes, and rappers that can help out their own in America, but many fail to. They would rather be featured on MTV cribs rubbing their riches in a youth’s face than helping out. Not all , but a majority of them do that. Oprah can do whatever she wants with her money. Whoever it was who complained in the media about it, why dont you fill that void with your dollars. Otherwise, shut up.
Seeing that it is Oprah’s money, who are we to judge or tell her how to spend it.
# 42 BashyBoo said:
OK YALL KNOW ME, IM ABOUT TO PULL OUT MY CURRENCY CONVERTER AND CHECK THE EXCHANGE RATE IN SOUTH AFRICA, OPRAH PROBABLY PAID 2 U.S. DOLLARS FOR THAT SCHOOL LOL!
———–
That’s Hilarious!!
I read that quote on TMZ but since I haven’t received that issue of Newsweek yet I want to say that I find it really hard to believe that Oprah actually made such a reckless remark in a national publication.
If she hand picked the kids that went into that school in South Africa she obviously could have hand picked kids in the US who are more concerned with books than Ipods to go to her special school. It seems ridiculous that she would make such a generalization.
Commenting on this issue is not “hating” and there is not a single person, upset by her alleged remarks, who has suggested that they shut that school down. She did a good thing. She gets a cookie. But that doesn’t mean she’s above scrutiny. She’s a public figure, I’m sure she can handle it.
I think that Oparh is truly an angel!!! Love her!!!
On Education
Giving Minority Students a Push Along the Path to Leadership Roles
By CLARA HEMPHILL
Published: January 3, 2007
On a recent cold Saturday, when most children around the city were relaxing after a week at school, 320 boys and girls, ages 10 to 13, filed into Nightingale-Bamford, a private girls’ school in a stately brick building on the Upper East Side.
Skip to next paragraph
David Suter
The children, most black or Hispanic, were going to be interviewed for a shot at admission to a private day or boarding school, or an elite suburban public school, through A Better Chance, a nonprofit group. The boys wore jackets and neckties. The girls were in prim skirts or nicely pressed trousers. Some were confident, but many were nervous, folding and unfolding their hands, sitting up extra straight as they waited to be interviewed. The stakes, after all, were high.
The program’s mission is to increase the number of minority men and women in leadership positions. It is really about social mobility, whisking children out of their environment in urban neighborhoods and transporting them to institutions that are incubators for presidents, senators and titans of industry — like Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., President Bush’s alma mater.
“These schools are pathways to influence and power in our society,” said Sandra Simmons, the president of the group, pointing out that Governor-elect Deval L. Patrick of Massachusetts, the state’s first black governor, is an alumnus of the program.
Yet A Better Chance and similar programs, like the New York City-based Prep for Prep, can only hope to provide mobility for the few. Most of the children who seek placement will never get a spot. In 2006, for example, 2,153 students nationwide applied to A Better Chance; about half passed the screening process, but only 624 children were accepted and 455 enrolled. The others declined their spots, largely for financial reasons, group officials said.
The former president of the group, Judith Berry Griffin, worried so much about talented students who had been rejected that she left the organization in 2003 and established a new nonprofit group, Pathways to College, to help them.
THE fact, she said, is that most public middle schools serving urban youth simply are not preparing children for academically challenging high schools, public or private. Even if they were, there are not many seats available in the elite private schools, or enough scholarship money to support the students who need financial aid, she said.
“There are just not enough places,” she said in a telephone interview from her office in Englewood, N.J. “It’s like musical chairs. We simply have to come to grips with the fact that we are throwing away hundreds of thousands of talented children. We don’t even know what talent we are throwing away.”
Rather than helping a few students get coveted spots in a few schools, she now tries to help children in low-performing public high schools, like Barringer in Newark, get the skills they need to attend college by offering after-school writing courses and college guidance. “My real goal is to bring about systemic change in the public schools,” she said.
Ms. Simmons acknowledged the limitations of her program in being able to help only a small number of children. But, she said, it still has great impact because it vaults talented students of color to the highest echelons of society.
At the Nightingale-Bamford school, Kirk Cohall, 10, waited for his interview with his sister, Shannon, 14, and their parents. Their mother, Sophia, left her job as a financial analyst to spend more time with the family; their father, Kirkpatrick, is the senior minister at the Lenox Road Baptist Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Shannon, who was accepted as A Better Chance scholar last year, is a ninth grader at Poly Prep Country Day School, a mostly white school in Bay Ridge. Kirk, a fifth grader in a gifted program at Public School 279, a mostly black school in Canarsie, is hoping to join his sister there.
Kirk and Shannon’s parents say the quality of public schools in Canarsie has declined in recent years as the neighborhood changed from mostly white to mostly black. P.S. 279 still posts high test scores, but it is badly overcrowded. Some children attend classes in an annex a few blocks away, and some classes are as large as 32 pupils. Several years ago, the school had a leaky roof and moldy classroom walls.
David Cantor, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Education, said overcrowding and adequate maintenance were issues citywide, acknowledging that some classes at P.S. 279 have 32 students.
Poly Prep has a 25-acre campus, protected by a gate. It has a whole building dedicated to the study of science; one floor has physics labs, another has chemistry labs, and two floors have biology labs. The school has a professional-looking theater for student productions. It even has a pond with ducks — 262 by one count.
“You can sit around the pond and do your homework,” Shannon said. “It doesn’t look like you’re in Brooklyn. There’s grass and trees. It’s getting a breath of fresh air in the middle of the city.” But what struck her most is the class size. “There are 10 students in the class and you get lots of individual attention.”
Shannon was also accepted at Bronx High School of Science, but declined the spot because, her parents said, it was too far from home, and, with classes of 34 students, too crowded. Her parents pay part of Poly Prep’s $27,000 a year tuition, and a scholarship from the school pays the rest.
Shannon’s father, who has a Ph.D. in education from Fordham University, said graduates of A Better Chance can be agents for change. “We want a better life for our children, of course,” he said. But, he added, “We’re teaching them, whatever God wants you to do, you take it to help others.”
Mrs. Cohall, who attended public schools in Brooklyn, said she had always been a proponent of public education, but was worried about the quality of most public schools in black neighborhoods. “The expectations are low and the resources are limited,” she said.
“If the playing field were level, we wouldn’t need this program,” she continued, referring to A Better Chance.
“I think these kids are going to help to level it,” Shannon’s father added.
Clara Hemphill, a guest columnist, is author of “New York City’s Best Public High
Do you guys realize the wealth that exist in South Africa? Therefore, saying the poor children in the United States have access to a free education is a joke. The government of South Africa can make some different choices just as the people of the United States. Also, Oprah cna do what ever she wants with her money, but the problem centers around excess. How do you get the most out of ever dollar spent. Its like going to the delta building a $2million home and giving it to one family when you could have built 40 $50,000 homes and given 40 families shelter.
I can’t help think how wonderful some little girls here in the states could have benefited from the oppurtunity. Why is always a white man that offers assistance to the Blacks in this country when our own can only find excuses not to help.
Everthing Oprah does is to stroke Oprah’s ego.
I know for a fact that not only do the kids not appreciate their education but a lot of the parents don’t either so that’s a large group of people taking education for granted.
As far as what Oprah said:
Sometimes people need to hear those types of statements so they get a wake up call. There is probably someone out there who just spent $600 on a Playstation 3 for their child but hasn’t yet been to a PTA meeting, who is at least thinking twice about their decisions….
Absolutely Wonderful! congrats to Oprah and those young ladies attending that school! She really gives back to people and I admire Oprah so much for that! God Bless her!
Absolutely Wonderful! congrats to Oprah and those young ladies attending that school! She really gives back to people and I admire Oprah so much for that! God Bless her!
on Wednesday, January 3, 2007 @ 10:16 am
Gayle said:
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I read that quote on TMZ but since I haven’t received that issue of Newsweek yet I want to say that I find it really hard to believe that Oprah actually made such a reckless remark in a national publication.
If she hand picked the kids that went into that school in South Africa she obviously could have hand picked kids in the US who are more concerned with books than Ipods to go to her special school. It seems ridiculous that she would make such a generalization.
Commenting on this issue is not “hating” and there is not a single person, upset by her alleged remarks, who has suggested that they shut that school down. She did a good thing. She gets a cookie. But that doesn’t mean she’s above scrutiny. She’s a public figure, I’m sure she can handle it.
Bill Said:
I CoSign 101 % what Gayle said above !!
Although Oprah did a Very good thing in creating the charter school in Africa, I wished she would have not have made that statement about American Student priorities and lack of educational values.
It’s not good to air our laundry in public….
People from other Nations ALREADY look down on Americans (in particalar AFRICAN AMERICANS).
There was NO need to add fuel to the fire….
i commend oprah for such a accomplishment, but i wish she could do more for minorities in the community, inside and outside the country. I hate to see our people struggle, and if i was like Oprah, i would offer a whole lot to those who need help, especially who suffer famine, aids, poverty, and just doesnt have a place to go.She has the power, so if she leads, alot will follow after her.
I just want to play devil’s advocate here. Say for instance the countries were reversed and African children had the luxuries that American children have had access to. Would we still be saying the same thing?
I mean c’mon. African children that live in poverty have not had access to the technology and other luxuries so of course they will be humble and appreciate everything they receive. Nonetheless, the reason that American children are SPOILED as everyone is mentioning is because PARENTS buy their child everything under the sun and expect them to understand and appreciate what they get. If you don’t instill good values and character in your children, this is the result. That’s why other countries have their opinions of Amercians period.
I defintely applaud Oprah for her efforts and totally agree with her decsion. Also, it’s her money she can do whatever she chooses! Go OPRAH! Do you!
I think that was a great idea ! but she helping girls in Africa…when we need help in America… lol still good idea doe
Oprah is still helping Black children, so it does not matter if they are in Africa.
Kids here don’t want a school. They want Playstation3′s, the new Jordans, North Face, and all that shit.