Oprah's Acceptance Speech Analysis

Oprah’s acceptance speech for the Cecile B. Demille award during the 2018 Golden Globe, became a topic of conversation after the annual film and television awards show. Her speech served as an attempt to shed light on the systemic inequalities implanted in our society, including the entertainment industry. She dealt with topics such as racism and sexual abuse and was determined to share a message that the time for those concerns are up. She also utilizes this opportunity to establish her affiliation with the “Me-too” and “Times’s up” movements, which are intended to empower women by making sexual abuse a public conversation. Although the speech may be generally acknowledged, some may have dissimilar reactions. This critical response will thus explore how a white supremacist and a female African American may read and interpret the text differently.

In order to affirm how a white supremacist would interpret the speech it is important to delve into their ideology. In essence, their ideology

Women of colour are often met with lack of empathy and ambivalence when coming forth with their stories about sexual assault. A much-publicized case is when Harvey Weinstein quickly refused sexual claims from the coloured actress Lupita N’yongo, while mostly remaining silent when accused by other white females. In addition, the lack of recognition to the true creator of the “Me too” movement: Tarana Burke, has left many African American women resentful. Before the movement became viral through white females’ statements, the movement had actually existed for more than a decade without the same attention. As a result, some African Americans refuse to support an exclusive movement. Consequently, a female African American reader of Oprah’s speech could be critical to her almost “ignorant” standpoint to the