Suddenly ordinary: Oprah, Obama

BY MARJORIE VALBRUN

May 4, 2008

Marjorie Valbrun is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist. A slightly longer version of this article appeared in TheRoot.com, a magazine of commentary from a variety of black perspectives.

They both have unique names and amazing life stories. They have legions of adoring fans who find them inspiring. They have sold millions of books and can fill stadiums like rock stars.

Few black Americans have occupied the rarefied status of Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, two "racially transcendent" blacks whom white admirers find appealing and admirable. But it seems the pedestals on which the "Double-O's" have been perched are very wobbly these days. Pennsylvania shined an ugly light on Obama's problem with white working-class voters. And, since she endorsed him, Oprah's approval ratings with her adoring white public have dipped, too.

Could it be that because of unpleasant and race-loaded issues like the "scary" and "angry" Rev. Jeremiah Wright (Oprah went to his church, too), flag pins and uppity comments about "bitter" white voters, Oprah and Obama no longer seem so special or different from, you know, other black people? Are they starting to seem kind of ordinary black?

In the quest to continue the interracial honeymoon, Obama has always had higher hurdles to clear than Oprah. He is a black man, not a black woman. And his road show is not merely a feel-good gabfest. He wants to run the free world. And, in that context, for some, race becomes impossible to ignore. An exit poll in Pennsylvania found that 19 percent of all voters said that race played an important role in how they voted.

But in a surprising instance of collateral damage, people's considerations about Obama seem to be hurting Oprah, too. A new national survey shows Oprah's favorability rating among television viewers has dropped noticeably since she endorsed Obama. A recent widely cited article in The Politico tracked several polls over the past 20 years showing Oprah with consistently high favorability rankings - at one time 78 percent of Americans held a favorable opinion of her - until she campaigned for Obama.

"Ten days after she went on the stump for Obama, Oprah's favorability ratings dropped to 55 percent, the lowest level of favorability ever registered for Oprah in opinion surveys," the article states.

So what is happening?

If some white people are rethinking their feelings for Oprah and Obama, it's because those people's unrealistic expectations of the two have been betrayed. Oprah and Obama were idealized blacks. They were supposed to be above reproach, neutral on all matters of race, unencumbered by the tiresome legacy of American race relations, colorblind in their politics. They were not supposed to associate with people like Jeremiah Wright, let alone consider them friends.

They were supposed to reflect blackness in the way that made white people comfortable, lacking any hint of anger, resentment or, dare we say it, "bitterness." They were also supposed to pretend their blackness didn't matter. Oprah could be the black girlfriend who white women felt good about themselves for having; Obama could be the black candidate they felt good for supporting.

Whites have long felt comfortable with black people entertaining them. Politics is not entertainment - at least not intentionally. Still, it's hard not to wonder if the massive white crowds that came out for Obama's speeches early on weren't also seeing him as some kind of eloquent performer, and now it's sinking in that he really is running for president, not American Idol.

Could this be why so many whites are now asking, more than a year after Obama launched his campaign, if they can really trust him and basing those doubts not on his political record but on speeches of his minister?

If Oprah's troubles are somehow linked to Obama - and not merely to Ellen DeGeneres' hard-earned hot streak - it's a sad statement on race in America. A sampling of recent blog posts suggests that something bigger than Ellen is at play:

"Oprah is a backstabber. ... So are the rest of the black people who turned their backs on Hillary ... "

"The support of white women made Oprah her billions. While she has every right to vote and campaign for whomever she wants, she ... used her clout against the first viable white woman. Hope she sinks into oblivion."

Perhaps the last comment was the most telling. It reflects the patronizing attitude that white support should be met with unquestioning loyalty and gratitude by blacks who receive it.

In this odd political season, nothing is certain. Obama, now emphatically distanced from Rev. Wright, may find a way to connect with working-class whites and superdelegates. Oprah, unlike Obama, has proved her staying power. She is a billionaire and will remain one even if some of her fair-weather fans stay mad.

But the truth is that black celebrities and politicians are held to ridiculous standards of acceptability. As long as white people are defining those standards, "transcendent" black leaders will walk a racial tightrope, and everyone is destined to end up disappointed.

Copyright 2008, Washingtonpost.com, Newsweek Interactive, and TheRoot.com.