To soothe race relations in the U.S., New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof thinks the federal government should look for help from former daytime TV queen Oprah Winfrey.
In his latest op-ed, “When whites just don’t get it, part 5,” Kristof argues that “racial bias remains deeply embedded in American life.”
To fix it, Kristof says the government should create a Sept. 11-styled fact-finding commission, headed by Winfrey.
“[I]t should hold televised hearings and issue a report to help us understand ourselves,” Kristof writes. “Perhaps it could be led by the likes of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Oprah Winfrey.”
Kristof’s column is the latest in a series on racism, following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, a black man, by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. The first installment memorably asked, “Is everyone a little bit racist?”
Winfrey currently runs her own cable channel, OWN. She recently concluded her national “The Life You Want” tour, which promotes self-help.
In 2013, Winfrey claimed she had been the target of racism at a store in Switzerland.
