Dr. Phil/OWNFor regular viewers of Dr. Phil, guests who shock and intrigue the audience are pretty much the norm.
As guests tell their stories, Dr Phil will offer advice and ‘life strategies’, speaking from his experience as a clinical and forensic psychologist.
In a recent episode, one guest who caught the audience’s attention was 16-year-old Treasure. Treasure, it appears, it convinced she’s white – despite being a black woman – and believes she’s superior to other black people because of it.
Treasure appeared on the show with her family, who expressed their concern for her mental state, apparent self-hatred and racist tendencies.
Speaking on the show, Treasure said:
I know a lot of people take issues with my beliefs. I’m white. I’m a Caucasian because everything about me is different from an African American – I have naturally straight hair.
My hair is not nappy; it doesn’t require a weave. My nose is not giant, like African Americans, my lips are perfect, they’re not too big and they’re not too small they’re just perfect.
Most African-Americans speak ghetto. When it comes to black people, I think they’re all ugly and I have nothing in common with them. I’m different from African Americans because I’m white.
My figure’s just like Kim Kardashian, and she’s a wonderful role model. I act and I think like a white person instead of a black person.
Treasure’s mother, Monique, explained how her daughter’s tendencies started to emerge when she was a child. Treasure apparently had an aversion to black dolls and refused to play with other black children.
Her mother believes Treasure’s identity issues began when her white husband – who was not Treasure’s biological father – died in 2006. Monique added how Treasure’s beliefs have intensified recently, and fears her daughter may fall in with white supremacy groups, as Complex reports.
On the show, Treasure said:
I believe that I’m completely and utterly better than [black people], we’re on two different levels.
There’s nothing wrong with my views or beliefs, because I have freedom of speech and everything I’m saying is true.
Elsewhere in the programme, Treasure said:
It makes me feel good to put down Africa Americans because it helps them stay in their place.
I identify with the Ku Klux Klan because the way they believe is just so smart. White is right.
Later in the show, Dr. Phil introduced Treasure to a life coach, called Spirit, who wanted to understand Treasure’s thought process and make sense of the situation.
Spirit said:
We have issues around culture, we have issues around class, we have issues around racial identity, and we have issues around self-esteem.
It’s not that she hates black people; it’s that she hates herself, and she wants her old life back.
Spirit also invited Treasure to come to Atlanta with her, so she could ‘meet and understand what amazing black women look like,’ to which Treasure repeatedly said: ‘No thank you’.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.