Apparently, she was Miss District of Columbia in 2001.
Posted on 03/22/2004 12:28:10 PM PST by PJ-Comix
If you are hooked on NBC's "The Apprentice," chances are you hold some pretty strong opinions about Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, the black woman who was recently fired on the reality TV show.
To say that Omarosa, a stunningly attractive woman, rubbed some of her colleagues on the show the wrong way is to put it mildly.
Still, early in Omarosa's 15 minutes of fame, I was rooting for her to win it all. After watching Omarosa calmly deflect her opponents' criticism in the boardroom -- leaving them speechless -- I was convinced she had the skills to become the strongest leader.
I actually thought Omarosa had a shot at getting through the tasks to snag the $250,000 salary for running one of Donald Trump's companies. I know, you're thinking: What could I have possibly liked about a woman who was rude, ruthless and conniving?
Frankly, Omarosa was entertaining.
She was a prime-time "Angry Black Woman."
Armed with two degrees and political connections, Omarosa didn't have to put her hand on her hips, twirl her head or snap her fingers like the stereotypical ABW. But from the first day she walked into Trump's boardroom, she wore her chocolate skin like a suit of armor.
Obviously, the producers of this show must have looked high and low for an authentic ABW.
Because real life professional black women know that being an ABW on the job is the worst thing you can be. Employers just don't like ABWs. More importantly, if you are branded an ABW in the workplace, when there's really something to be upset about, no one pays much attention.
Still, if you've ever had to choke back your words knowing that if you let them fly, you'd end up on that elevator to the street, watching Omarosa play the ABW week after week was invigorating.
Pushed team nearly to tears
Instead of being ignored, Omarosa pushed the other women on her team nearly to tears.
For those who are not familiar with this reality TV program, gazillionaire Trump fires one of the apprentices every week. The 15-episode drama started out with 16 candidates and is now down to six. The remaining group includes two white women, three white men and one black man.
Omarosa was fired two weeks ago in an episode that I will get back to later. After she was fired, the Washington, D.C., resident said her experience "showed the problems of racism in corporate America."
In fact, Omarosa has accused another fired cast member, Ereka Vetrini, of calling her a racial slur. Vetrini has denied that allegation. But if Omarosa is successful in painting the show's environment as racially insensitive, she may end up trumping the Trump.
On one hand, I understand the problem. As the only black woman in the group, Omarosa must have felt she had something to prove. But what started out as an impressive display of self-confidence grew into an obnoxious disregard of everyone else's self-worth.
From the start, Omarosa blamed her problems on the inability of the other women to deal with race. They had never been around a strong black woman, she said.
Which brings me to the other stereotype that the producers of this show were obviously going for: The "Strong Black Woman."
Doesn't have a clue
Although Omarosa talked the part, she doesn't have a clue about what it takes to be a real SBW. In fact, while she bickered over little things, Omarosa was unable to persuade any of her team members to listen to her ideas.
Really, I started having my doubts about Omarosa's ability to finish this race after a small piece of plaster fell on her head and she acted as if she had been struck by a beam. After a physician treated her (take a Tylenol, she said), Omarosa insisted on going to the hospital. She then spent the rest of the day complaining about having a headache while her teammates did most of the physical labor required to renovate the apartment.
And to make matters worse, while the others were working, cameras caught Omarosa playing basketball with some children in front of the apartment building.
Every SBW knows what it is like to go to work and work all day with a pounding headache, aching back or nagging cough. And your average goof-off knows not to get caught playing when you've told the boss you're ill.
But perhaps the worst thing about Omarosa was that she played too many cards. Not only did she play the race card, she played every card in the deck.
Omarosa also committed an unforgivable act of treachery. Although she accused her white female colleagues of being racist, when it was her time to face being fired she took a white male aside and told him that if Kwame Jackson (the only black man in the group) chose her to face the firing, she would have to "eat my brotha up."
For all her tough talk, Omarosa is the only person who broke down and cried after being fired.
Instead of giving viewers a glimpse of "racism in corporate America" Omarosa gave them a view of a stereotypical black woman in over her head.
I'm sure it was purely a coincidence that the one person out of 16 with Democratic party credentials was also the sociopath.
-PJ
Was the author of this piece watching the same show as I was?
On the planet Beldar?
Apparently, she was Miss District of Columbia in 2001.
Otherwise, you wouldn't hire her for your mailroom.
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