You're correct when you say that Oprah does have that "Mammy" appeal, and you're also correct when you say that it's more complicated than that too.  

Oprah strongly appeals to people's belief in the American Dream; that with determination and intelligence anyone can make it in this country.  Oprah also provides a handy short hand argument against racism and the need for affirmative action with that same American Dream narrative.  White people really do love and respect Oprah and consequently it makes it easier for them to believe that race relations just aren't that bad in America.  

While I'm sure that Oprah's influence means something, I think her influence in this campaign is primarily felt with her White, femal audience members. I think Barack would've done fine with Black voters regardless of Oprah's endorsement.  However, I don't think the same could be said for White women who respond very differently, to put it mildly to Black people.  Thus, without Oprah christening him a "nice Black man" I'm unsure how many White women would've felt comfortable voting for him.  That said, I don't think we ought to overstate Oprah's influence.  She may be able to convince folks to buy her magazine & spend $300 on shoes, but I'm not sure, given the legacy of race and racism in THIS America, that even she would be enough to convince White people to vote for Barack.  There's some other there there.  Appreciate the post

Actually, it's not complicated at all. The "mammy" factor has always been present in the survival of black people throughout our history here. It's been a way to survive and enjoy the graces of white folks. Oprah has been the most successful ever; She has taken mammyism to a new level!

I agree with the notion of Oprah serving as a modern-day Mammy.  But as a historian I must caution that Mammy was more than just a comforting figure for white folks.  In the small sphere that slave Mammies operated, they often managed to stop the sales and the beatings of other slaves!  Since Mammy often was in the care of the Master's children and perhaps raised Master himself, she wielded a limited degree of power.

It is fair to question why Oprah is so popular among white Americans.  It is naive, however, to automatically assume that her appeal is due to the fact that she is allegedly racially non-threatening.  As much as racism has to be recognized and confronted, some Black folks do not know how to confront or discuss any but racism.   Some of us  Black folks seem to be unaware that all of the finger pointing about racism has gained us little in terms of economic advances or real changes in public policy.  Oprah's appeal is related to the American Dream, but it is also a throw back to an earlier "Black American Dream."  That old Black American Dream also said get up and do the work.  All too often, I run into young folks who do not try to do anything and use racism as the excuse for not making an effort.  

Let's face it, for all of the self-annointed Black leaders who cut deals in back rooms, Oprah has done something that very few Black men or women have ever done--She makes white folks pay her top dollar for simply having a conversation with them!!  Oprah has gotten her reparations and then some!!

Eljay--

Stop intellectualizing Oprah's mammy-ism. When was the last time Oprah dealt with the incarceration rate of young black men on her tv program - or her magazine?

Oprah's sole function seems to be assuaging the anxieties of middle-class white women. She knows it; we know it. And she is getting paid quite well!

But lets not fool ourselves. She is, what she is!

I am not sure it is a deep as you all are making it out to be.  I will tell you why I ( a black woman) and many other white women I know love Oprah.  We love her because she has done what few women in our capitalist society have been able to do.  She plays a man's game, in a man's world, withought playing on her sexuality to get ahead.  She became the most powerful voice in the country and she never shook her "money makers" to do it.  I don't watch her show, and I won't buy her $300.00 shoes.  But, I will always respect and be eternally grateful to the message she sends to both women and men about the possibility of cashing in on your intellectual property and not your sex appeal.

Bravo Eljay in Atl . . . great assessment

I don't buy the "mammy" effect. Just like I don't buy it when I hear the Clinton people say Obama has gotten so many votes because of white liberal guilt.

Oprah and Obama, in my estimation at least, are two truly dynamic and charismatic people who understand how to present themselves well and connect to the masses. They both appeal to what can be and to the yearning in all of us to be better people.They're genius at it. Their appeal doesn't go any deeper than that.

Ty:

While I understand your point, you seem to assume that Oprah Winfrey has not effectively dealt with the problems of Black folks.  I do recall Oprah Winfrey being one of the few television personalities that aired a very complicated and controversial story where a young Black male in my home state had been falsely accused of the rape of a young white woman.  An extremely effective and very recent show detailed the violence meted out to ordinary Black Americans during the sixties and seventies.

You obviously feel strongly about the topic of Black incarceration,  and there is something you can do:  You can contact the Oprah Winfrey Show and ask that the topic  be considered for a show.  Also, there are plenty of Black pundits who avoid this topic.  While Oprah Winfrey is influential, she is not Black or White America's gatekeeper.  In fact, she often asks her audience to become more involved in the process of straightening out the problems in all of our communities.  She is not above criticism, but Oprah Winfrey is not the problem.  

Being black is sooo hard.  If you only concern yourself with black folk then, as you posted on 2/15,  you are  " Race Brokers: Grievance Merchants and Professional Negroes who give white America the word from Darktown, so no one actually has to engage race relations in a constructive way. "  If, however, you don't do that and you make your living embracing all aspects of live,  then you are a Mammy.

As far as Oprah supporting Obama, they both sell the same message and they both appeal to the American Dream narrative.  If you work and study hard, you too can be successful in America. There are lots of kids at Obama rallies brought by their parents who want them to receive this positive message.  Yes, you too could be president.

Ophra is trying to be a American with her way of blending the women of America to show the color blind that we can live with respect of one another TODAY. But the hardcore blacks that think they are still being left out of society are still living in the past. She leans toward the blacks at times just to keep her critics from calling her a Mammy. Its a shame that we are still living and discussing the past instead of living for the future. We are bringing the grief to our self if we cannot get past the color. I know this makes a lot of blacks angry but at least Oprha is trying to be a American in a time that needs embracing for our  country. Oprha has her convictions along with her money that can be persuasive but who doesn't with money. I think her heart is as big as her show but her heart is red. Maybe black people need to see Ophra as a person like most white people instead of her color. Obama will win or lose at the poll not because some black will help him win or influence the outcome. It will be what he can do for America...Americans are not that naive anymore......"Mammy" uh! Grow up.. Good day!

To Antone-

Obama may be running a color blind campaign but if it wasn't for the black folks in south carolina who voted for him in droves, his campaign would have stalled in that region. Apparently many black people are "seeing" his blackness and voting accordingly. The color-blind thing is more hype than reality. And,  I hope we noticed the angry racially tinged responses Oprah got from her white female audience when she publicly campaigned for Obama.

This color-blind thing is a very curious social disease!

when i still hear white women who love oprah with a passion that's almost pathological casually discuss sterilization of "welfare moms," which indeed i have personally heard, the notion of color-blindness evaporates for me. oprah may well be seen as a woman first by some of her audience, but for a poisonous segment--however small, it is still too large and is influential way out of proportion to its size--she is instead seen as an "exception" and not representative at all; if anything, oprah is viewed as a kind of penance that pays for the privilege of basic bigotry simmering between episodes of her show.

I think Oprah is charismatic and early on has been out for Oprah. Housewives needed a guru and they got one in her. I've never subscribed to her brand of "feelgoodism" as she changes it as soon as a new book or speaker shows up. How many diets has she endorsed.

Don't ever forget that she pushed "Dr" Phil on an unsuspecting world. That was one more opportunity to make money off of the ignorant and vulnerable.

Oprah is, simply, a money making machine. Pure and simple.

Who knows what Obama could have done on his own? He spoke in Austin, Texas and she wasn't here and he had a HUGE crowd. Star power eventually fades.....

When was the last time that Oprah donated $1m to organizations that could help young women prevent unwanted pregnancies? And when was the last time she donated anything without telling it? What is she doing about the incarceration rate of young black men? 80% of them end up in prison after being released. Has she had any offenders on her programs explaining why they are where they are? How about taking all young men to task for impregnating numerous women and leaving all of them to fend for themselves and the babies?

I work in a prison and I see the need on an hour to hour basis. These people, all races, need some guidance and rehabilitation. With her money, she could set up four rehabilitation centers in the United States and make a huge difference HERE WHERE SHE HAS MADE HER MILLIONS!!!