One of my readers left a comment on yesterday's post regarding the veracity of the stories I posted. According to the website Snopes, the story about Tommy Hilfiger is a rumor which first surfaced in 1996 and like a bad penny it has returned. Tommy Hilfiger appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 2 of this year and discussed this very subject. A partial transcript of the show reveals the truth of the matter:
Oprah: Let's break this down. Tommy, in the 21 years that we've been on the air, have you ever been on the show before today?
Tommy: Unfortunately, not.
Oprah: And when you first heard it, Tommy, what did you think?
Tommy: I didn't believe it. … Friends of mine said they heard the rumor. I said, 'That's crazy. That can't be. I was never on The Oprah Show. I would never say that.' And all my friends and family who know me and people who work with me and people who have grown up with me said that's crazy.
Oprah: Well, did you ever say anything close to that? Where do you think this originated?
Tommy: I have no idea. We hired FBI agents, I did an investigation, I paid investigators lots of money to go out and investigate, and they traced it back to a college campus but couldn't put their finger on it.
You can read the whole Snopes story here. My apologies to Tommy Hilfiger for the undeserved character dispersion but I stand by my salute to Oprah as she has done much to serve the cause of blacks, women and tolerance.
As for story two, it falls into the category of urban legend that did not happen but should if a similar incident should occur. You can read the Snopes article about this and other urban legends here. If more people really did stand up to overt bigotry on a daily basis, bigots and bigotry would soon be as extinct as the dinosaurs. One can only hope that people can find it in their hearts and minds to fight racism and bigotry wherever and whenever we find it.
That's it for now except for some eye candy to close the post. So until next time as always, Enjoy!
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Oprah: Let's break this down. Tommy, in the 21 years that we've been on the air, have you ever been on the show before today?
Tommy: Unfortunately, not.
Oprah: And when you first heard it, Tommy, what did you think?
Tommy: I didn't believe it. … Friends of mine said they heard the rumor. I said, 'That's crazy. That can't be. I was never on The Oprah Show. I would never say that.' And all my friends and family who know me and people who work with me and people who have grown up with me said that's crazy.
Oprah: Well, did you ever say anything close to that? Where do you think this originated?
Tommy: I have no idea. We hired FBI agents, I did an investigation, I paid investigators lots of money to go out and investigate, and they traced it back to a college campus but couldn't put their finger on it.
You can read the whole Snopes story here. My apologies to Tommy Hilfiger for the undeserved character dispersion but I stand by my salute to Oprah as she has done much to serve the cause of blacks, women and tolerance.
As for story two, it falls into the category of urban legend that did not happen but should if a similar incident should occur. You can read the Snopes article about this and other urban legends here. If more people really did stand up to overt bigotry on a daily basis, bigots and bigotry would soon be as extinct as the dinosaurs. One can only hope that people can find it in their hearts and minds to fight racism and bigotry wherever and whenever we find it.
That's it for now except for some eye candy to close the post. So until next time as always, Enjoy!
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