Oprah Winfrey is probably right when she suspects there was some racism behind the charade about pricing in that Geneva handbag shop. The clerk kept telling the fabulously wealthy Winfrey that she couldn’t afford the items on display. What many North Americans don’t know is just how far bigotry seeps into the everyday business affairs of many Europeans. Born into affluent culturally-unified communities, a lot of high-brow Swiss, German, French and others are quite openly prejudiced, especially against non-whites. As to the intense sensitivity of Kim Wheeler, an Ojibway-Mohawk lady from Winnipeg, over the toy headdress piece in an H&M, it seems overdone. Of course Ms. Wheeler is entitled to dislike what she saw and to complain if she must. But her overweening notion that headdresses are not be worn in nightclubs is over the top. People wear the Queen’s tiara in nightclubs. They wear the Pope’s ring. It may give offense to some but our freedoms trump hurt feelings.
Joan Baez once walked into a Mercedes dealership in California wearing jeans and got snubbed by the salesman. She pulled out her cheque book and bought the car on the spot.