Good for you Oprah!

“Oprah's truth does not hurt

Oprah Winfrey's poke at the short-sighted materialism of some low-income students has delighted conservative commentators, but that doesn't mean she's wrong.

Liberals love to "speak truth to power," but the powerless need to hear the truth, too.

That's why the Queen of Daytime Talk did poor folks a favor when she candidly explained in a Newsweek interview why she decided to build her lavish new school for impoverished teenagers, the $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in South Africa instead of the United States. South Africa's students, she said, show a greater need and appreciation for education.

"I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools (in America) that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there," she said. "If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they .Ê.Ê. ask for uniforms so they can go to school."

Having reported from South Africa various times and as the parent of a black American teenager, I agree with Winfrey. She's not blaming the victims. Our kids don't know anything except that which they are taught by parents, peers, teachers and other role models.



http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070111/OPINION/201110356/1030/OPINION01”