Oprah Winfrey & South Africa

Oprah Winfrey has just announced the opening of a 40-million dollar school for girls in South Africa that she is sponsoring (and under-writing). She says she tried to help girls in the United States but failed because "I took them on ski trips, we had etiquette classes...you'd teach them how to do their makeup, we'd read and talk about books. And when they went home, they were criticized and beat up because their families said, 'Who do you think you are?'" (See USA Weekend, Dec. 17th, 2006).

Now, I'm thrilled personally that Oprah Winfrey is doing something for young women in South Africa. God knows, they need it. Thank you thank you thank you, Oprah! But if she thinks that it's going to be different for these young women she's helping in South Africa than the young women she tried to help in the U.S., she's got another think coming. Femaleness and blackness are still not treasured qualities, and South Africa is an extremely violent society. Young women are the victims of that violence more often than not, exposed to violence from their families and their boyfriends. She's got her work cut out for her.