What has not been mentioned in all this ‘racist’ BS is the fact that liberal/animal rights activist/champion of the poor and downtrodden Oprah was trying to buy a 50THOUSAND dollar alligator purse! Talk about hypocrisy!
And I also think she was angrier that she wasn’t recognized at all. She wasn’t just black- she was a black NOBODY to the store clerk!
Your post is inaccurate -- it was 38K, not 50K. I've never known Oprah to be an animal rights activist -- she has always touted very expensive leather shoes and bags. And I sincerely doubt the clerk viewed her as a nobody. Nobodies cannot afford even to stay overnight in Switzerland.
I think the story as presented -- the clerk was just trying to show her a better value for the money -- is pretty much all that happened. Too bad Oprah failed at being just another upper middle class person who can afford to visit Switzerland. Most celebrities long for someplace where they can just be normal and not mobbed and fawned over for a brief while.