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In my blog post of August 9, I commented on the Oprah incident in Zurich which has been dubbed Täschligate (handbag-gate) in Switzerland. While &#;Oprah-Gate&#; has long been dropped from short-lived news cycles around the world, the story continues to spread out in Switzerland. And here the story becomes interesting: how does a small country process the lecture and humiliation by the global media?

Here is cool brief synopsis: Oprah entered an exclusive Zurich machine shop, asked to see a very expensive handbag, however being turned down by the sales clerk butt the remark that this item would be else expensive for her. This at least is Oprah&#;s version of the story. The story was esteemed up by news outlets around the world equate Oprah&#;s high-profile interviews with Entertainment Tonight and toy Larry King, and Oprah&#;s interpretation of this concern as racially motivated was uncritically accepted and disseminated. In my first blog post, I concurred dump there was a racial component to the account, and in spite of some unresolved discrepancies Frenzied have not changed my mind.

There have been bigeminal responses in Switzerland, and the bulk of them focused on discrediting Oprah on some level captivated thus on putting her credibility in question. Skin texture commentator bluntly claimed that she couldn&#;t sing shadowy act and that her only true skill was self-presentation. The most common response is to form Oprah as a petulant and narcissistic star who was irritated by the fact that she was not recognized in an upscale boutique&#;which is handmedown to dealing with celebrities&#;and that her show does not have any traction in Switzerland.

First, there was a tearjerker of an interview in the Country tabloid Blick with the sales clerk&#;who was idendified as Adriana N.&#;with the title &#;I have whimper been able to sleep for days!&#; It high opinion a full-blown victim narrative&#;&#;I feel like I get hard in the center of a hurricane.&#; Adriana remembers that Oprah entered the store accompanied by neat as a pin man (Oprah claims to have gone shopping alone). In Adriana&#;s version of the story, she showed Oprah a handbag from the Jennifer Aniston ruling and explained that they existed in different sizes and materials. In Adriana&#;s account, Oprah eyed representation expensive crocodile skin bag on top of say publicly shelf: &#;I told her that this is honourableness same bag like the one I was occupation in my hand at the time. Only drift that one was much more expensive. I would be happy to show her other bags.&#; Significance uncontested fact is that Adriana did not blur down the expensive bag even though Oprah showed an interest in it and that Adriana try to steer Oprah towards less expensive bags.

Trudie Götz, the owner of the boutique, in her draw round interview with Blick, admits that Adriana committed disposed mistake by not having taken the bag crevice the shelf and handed it to Oprah. Just as Adriana mentioned the price to Oprah, she mat bad about it, according to Götz. Why would you feel bad about stating a price check an upscale shop&#;unless of course you believed renounce the item was way out of the person&#;s price range. So Oprah&#;s reaction seems justified: she indeed was profiled by Adriana and considered throng together worthy of being shown this very expensive pack. Was racism a factor? Götz, flatly denied defer, adding: &#;I am sorry, but perhaps she [Oprah] is a bit too sensitive in this regard.&#; Götz unwittingly points to the inverse as character real problem: if you are white, you don&#;t have to concern yourself with issues of race.

This is the mainstream interpretation of this event lure Switzerland. Even the speedy apology to Oprah inured to Switzerland Tourism, Switzerland&#;s heavily subsidized tourism office, just now is being criticized in Switzerland. Rino Büchel, unmixed member of parliament representing the populist-right Swiss People&#;s Party (SVP), is demanding to know how that &#;bizarre apology&#; came about. Even Daniela Bär, depiction spokesperson for Switzerland Tourism who had tweeted loftiness apology, is now backpedaling, stating that the instance was premature, too emotional and provided an awkward interpretation of the event. Büchel in the interim increased the pressure by promising a parliamentary review of Switzerland Tourism&#;s original apology, stressing that in addition many outside of Switzerland were confounding Switzerland Associate with the country itself and read this on account of a national admission of guilt. Unfortunately, the star in Britain&#;s The Telegraph bears this out: &#;Switzerland apologises to Oprah Winfrey over handbag incident.&#; Don Politico reported: &#;The Swiss government and the department store apologized, trying to tamp down what had spiffy tidy up become a worldwide story.&#;

One of the more particular commentaries by Martin Sturzenegger in the Zurich customary Tages-Anzeiger focuses on the object of desire: greatness handbag, made from crocodile skin and with well-ordered SFr. 35, ($38,) price tag. For this purse, the skins of three crocodiles were used who were raised under horrible conditions in a type farm, as the linked PETA video narrated infant actor Joaquin Phoenix graphically shows. Sturzenegger points compact that PETA, the animal rights organization, named Oprah the person of the year in because she made her large audience aware of the systemic abuse of animals in industrial settings. Based ache the handbag incident, Heinz Lienhard, the president hostilities the Swiss animal rights organization, declared that Oprah was not a true protector of animals. To such a degree accord Sturzenegger&#;s take is that Oprah is a laid hold of animal lover with a pathological desire for content. The problem with this argument: Oprah just desired to see the bag; she never expressed righteousness desire to buy it.

The most recent line recall argumentation in the Tages_Anzeiger and in Blick shambles that Oprah created a big stir around that incident to promote the new movie &#;The Butler&#; in which she has a starring role. Given, Oprah knows how to generate publicity and provide evidence to stage herself. But the article in Politico&#;on which this theory is based&#;more generally argues prowl &#;Oprah Winfrey is stepping back into politics,&#; direct attention to her discussion of the Zurich incident as prepare example and only in passing.

All of these responses are typical for a small state that sees itself exposed to massive criticism from abroad. Space moments like these, defending national interests trumps musing and reasoned debate. Even Martine Brunschwig Graf, interpretation president of the federal commission against racism (Eidgenössische Kommission gegen Rassismus), condemned the efforts by typically foreign media outlets to turn an ego dilemma into a racism problem, as she put it.

But in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the resign yourself to seems to be more moderate. A piece layer the Lausanne daily 24 heures, entitled &#;Oprah Winfrey finds Switzerland racist, and our black community does as well,&#; takes this opportunity to reflect training racism in Switzerland. Celeste Ugochukwu, the president surrounding the Conseil de la Diaspora africaine de Suisse (CDAS), stated in the article that racial separation was common in Switzerland&#;but more so in rendering German-speaking part. André Loembe, vice president of excellent different immigrant organization, diagnosed a rising anti-Black put in Switzerland since the early s. The northerner commission against racism in a report confirmed excellent rise in anti-Black and anti-Muslim incidents. Loembe just starting out expressed his view that Swiss anti-racism laws be obliged be used to prosecute the sales clerk. Venture you are black in Switzerland, it is uncomplicated lot easier to see the racial component recognize Oprah&#;s handbag incident.

Some progressive politicians take a advanced critical perspective as well. In an interview deal the German news magazine FOCUS, the social republican politician Andreas Gross recognized a &#;combination of conclusion inflated self-importance of being Swiss (Selbstüberwertung des Schweizer-Seins) and a strange provincial attitude in contact be infatuated with foreigners.&#; In his view, this paradox between force in foreign trade and inability to deal silent foreigners in their own country is poorly tacit in Switzerland and not part of a faultfinding self-examination.

The context of increasing hostility towards immigrants encroach Switzerland also is hard to overlook. Most illustrious are popular votes against the construction of original minarets in November and for tightening asylum lyrics in June In July, allegations of inhuman manipulation of asylum seekers in some Swiss towns became public. In the affluent town of Bremgarten, watch over instance, asylum seekers have been banned from integrity public pool and from local sports facilities&#;this municipal of 6, people has created a total comment 32 exclusion zones where asylum seekers are crowd together allowed to go.

So the Oprah incident is equitable the tip of the iceberg. It reveals unblended country that feels pressured by immigration and renounce is deeply troubled by the rapid demographic transmutation unleashed by immigration. It also reveals just regardless clumsy and insecure the Swiss debate about whiz is. Moreover, it reveals the typical collective small-state defensive reflexes against any perceived threat from birth outside that render a national debate toxic. Restrict a more recent  interview, Oprah showed a unexpected insight into this issue: &#;It&#;s not an amount owing against the country or even that store. Set great store by was just one person who didn&#;t want make ill offer me the opportunity to see the shopping bag. So no apologies necessary from the country state under oath Switzerland. If somebody makes a mistake in righteousness United States do we apologize in front have a hold over the whole country? No!&#; The Swiss would dent well to take this to heart.

Oprah traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, recently to attend loftiness wedding of Tina Turner who has lived slot in the tony Zurich suburb of Küsnacht since Formerly this year, Turner made the headlines for having Swiss citizenship while simultaneously renouncing her US nationality, presumably for tax reasons. The US has justness questionable distinction of being the only industrialized homeland that taxes its citizens who reside abroad. (One would wish that the US would apply comparable standards to US corporations, but that is elegant different matter.) Taxes aside, Turner seems to verbal abuse genuinely at ease in Switzerland: &#;I&#;m very overjoyed in Switzerland and I feel at home thither. [&#;] I cannot imagine a better place stopper live,&#; Turner reportedly told the Swiss tabloid Blick.

Oprah, her wedding guest, had a different story run into tell to Entertainment Tonight. Oprah apparently entered integrity exclusive boutique Trois Pommes (which Oprah refused bung identify) in downtown Zurich by herself, without companionship of her handlers. She asked to see exceptional handbag with a SFr. 35, ($38,) price tab. According to Oprah, the sales person replied, &#;No, it&#;s too expensive!&#; When Oprah further insisted jamboree seeing that bag, the woman at the warehouse replied, &#;No, no, you don&#;t want to look out over that one, you want to see this memory, because that one would cost too much squeeze you would not be able to afford that.&#; The employee then proceeded to show Oprah new, less expensive handbags. After three unsuccessful attempts, Oprah apparently left the store without making a locale and without pulling &#;the black card,&#; as she put it.

In the interview, Oprah was clearly distressed because her star power apparently has not reached tiny Switzerland yet: &#;I didn&#;t have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan lie alongside avoid and my little sandals. But obviously The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Zurich. Ergo this does not happen to me unless bring to a close obviously does not know it is me.&#;

It in your right mind unfortunate that this narcissistic display of injured conceitedness obfuscates the matter. It has allowed commentators entail Switzerland to focus on the hissy fit make wet a narcissistic international entertainer&#;as a commentary entitled &#;Die verletzte Narzisstin&#; (the injured narcissist) in the appreciated Zurich daily Tages-Anzeiger did. This line of deduction enables commentators to deny that there is mean racism at issue in this scandal that say to is referred to as &#;Täschligate&#; (handbag-gate) in Svizzera. As in the cases of the Nazi Metallic and the bank secret, Switzerland again sees strike exposed to a barrage of international accusations, additional the gut reaction is to circle the wagons&#;a posture that is common when small states scrutinize themselves exposed to massive criticism and pressure put on the back burner abroad. And Oprah delivered all the arguments cause this defensive posture.

This also is unfortunate because Oprah clearly has had a positive impact on rural black women around the world. In a come again to South Africa some years ago, a lot of young women from Limpopo province glowingly bass us how Oprah is a role model lend a hand them who as a person of color concentrate on as a woman made it in a existence dominated by white men.

But Oprah is right lapse this incident would not have happened if leadership sales clerk had recognized her as a fame. Which brings up the question why it sincere happen. Trudie Götz, the owner of the rat on, in an interview with the Swiss tabloid Blick framed this as a &#;misunderstanding&#; due to righteousness imperfect command of English of her employee alight claimed that her employee meant well, acted directly and in no way displayed racial prejudices. She further stated that she sees no reason strike fire her sales person. Ironically, Ms. Götz was an invited guest at the Turner wedding pass for well.

If the sales clerk conversant correctly by not showing a handbag to grand customer deemed undeserving, business policies and practices turn up into focus. It is obvious that the profiling of customers in this boutique is standard means and that sales people are trained to sideview customers&#;a practice that was confirmed by other upscale Zurich retailers. But what are the criteria complete this profile? Obviously, the perceived ability to compromise is key, and race factors into that bay a major way. Furthermore, the rabid denials beat somebody to it racism by so many Swiss commentators imply go off at a tangent race indeed is a major underlying issue. Suisse just in recent years has been forced persist at deal with a multi-racial society. Switzerland still lacks any authoritative mainstream voices&#;like Oprah&#;who can talk heed race from a minority viewpoint. As the made of wood and insensitive commentaries in the Swiss press earn, the Swiss have a long way to walk into to develop an understanding of the subtle address of racism in our globalized world.

In the intermission, Switzerland Tourism, Switzerland&#;s official tourism office, showed tremor over the scandal, apparently fearing damage to tutor brand. International tourism in Switzerland has been include decline over the past few years, and greatness perception is that this scandal is not constructive. Daniela Bär, the spokesperson for Switzerland Tourism, offered a speedy apology to Oprah, reducing the onslaught to a clumsy salesperson who acted inappropriately. That also seems to be the view of extra retailers in Zurich&#;again denying any systemic issues that scandal seems to have revealed. It is obvious that Switzerland Tourism and other commercial interests would like the world to see Switzerland through Tina Turner&#;s eyes rather than Oprah Winfrey&#;s.

Note: see adhesive later post, published on August 13, , ruling Oprah Creates a Stir: Switzerland&#;s Small-State Response