Ahead of Oprah Winfrey’s new documentary “The Color of Care”, centring on racial inequities within the American healthcare system, the TV host and author revealed what she’s learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, which inspired the upcoming project.
“I didn’t leave home for 322 days — literally did not leave the house,” Winfrey said during an interview with The Los Angeles Times regarding the documentary. She was surprised by “how well I was able to adjust to the isolation and not being around other people.”
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The iconic television host has “been so careful with” her health that her “own friends make fun of” her.
“I remember one point [Gayle King, a close friend] said, ‘Don’t you just miss being around other people?’ I go, ‘Eh, not really,” Winfrey recalled. “I think it’s because every day, I was in an audience of 350 people twice a day [on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”], so I’ve had shaking hands and autographs and selfies, and lots of attention, and exposure to being around a lot of people.”
Isolating during the pandemic allowed Winfrey to “be with myself in a way that I haven’t been able to for years” without having to think about “what is the next thing to come.”
“You can do that when you don’t have to worry about where your next pay cheque is coming from. I didn’t have to worry about, ‘Am I going to have rent? Am I going to be able to get food? Am I going to be able to keep the lights on and am I going to be able to take care of my children?'” she explained.
Winfrey’s thoughts and her takeaway from an article she read about COVID-19 victim Gary Fowler, encouraged her to produce “The Color of Care” which elucidates how the pandemic shed light on healthcare inequality, specifically in regards to where patients’ live and their racial profile.
“I don’t recognize a country where you’ve lost nearly a million people and there hasn’t been some form of remembering that is significant,” Winfrey said of being “appalled” and “stunned” by stories about people of colour who’ve died while facing obstacles to try and receive care for COVID-19.
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“There hasn’t been a communal gathering where there is acknowledgment that this has happened to us. Who are we that there is no acknowledgment, profoundly, in our society that we have lost our loved ones?” she continued.
“I think my biggest misconception [prior to the film] was that it was about health insurance, that it was about having access financially,” Winfrey told the publication. “What COVID laid bare is that inequities in so many other areas of your life also contribute to the major disparity when it comes to healthcare.”
“The Color of Care” premieres Sunday, May 1 on Smithsonian Channel. It can also be streamed for free on Smithsonian Channel’s Facebook and YouTube until May 31.
