Media mogul and billionaire Oprah Winfrey believes President Barack Obama is mistreated because he's black, according to a recent interview the former talk show host did with BBC.
Oprah Winfrey said that the end of racism may only come once all older racists die. Winfrey, 59, also noted the problem of racism is generational, using Apartheid in South Africa and the United States south as examples.
"There are still generations of people, older people, who are born and bred and marinated in it, in that prejudice and racism, and they just have to die," she said in the interview. (Watch the video below)
"Just the level of disrespect," Winfrey continued, citing Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst at the 2009 State of the Union as one example. "Yeah, I think there's a level of disrespect for the office that occurs. And that occurs in some cases, and maybe even many cases, because he's African-American."
BBC interviewer Will Gompertz, asked Winfrey if she thought Obama was at the receiving end of unfair criticism because he is an African-American president.
"I think that there's a level of disrespect for the office that occurs and that occurs in some cases, and maybe even many cases because [Obama's] African-American," Winfrey responded.
Winfrey is currently on tour promoting her movie, "The Butler," which is about Eugene Allen who served as a butler in the White House through eight presidencies, from Harry S Truman to Ronald Reagan.
Watch the BBC interview with Oprah Winfrey below:
