The prevailing view is that Whoopi Goldberg chose a Jewish stage name to curry favor with the Jews she believes hold all the power in Hollywood. But I always thought she chose it to identify with them as a fellow race of people who have been perennially oppressed by white folks.
Then came this:
On Monday on ‘The View,’ during a conversation about book banning and the Holocaust graphic novel Maus, Whoopi Goldberg declared that ‘the Holocaust wasn’t about race,’ because it was ‘two groups of White people.’ Her co-hosts pushed back. … But that was nothing compared with the outrage online, from random Twitter users all the way up to Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League.
Within about eight hours, Goldberg had apologized, saying, ‘I stand corrected. … The show announced that Greenblatt would join the panel on Tuesday to discuss the matter further. By Tuesday night, ABC had suspended Goldberg for two weeks to “take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.’
(The Washington Post, February 2, 2022)
I watched the video of their conversation for this commentary. And, truth be told, I’m not sure whether I was more bemused by Whoopi stressing her misguided points on race by declaring, authoritatively, “As a Black woman,” or by her co-hosts plaintively trying to save her from herself – to no avail.
Mind you, as a Black man, I understand what Whoopi was trying to say. Because, let’s be honest, most Jews in America today blithely identify as “white”.
The problem is that, in the context of their conversation, what she was saying was so historically incorrect. This, especially given that whole “master race” thing, which the Nazis used to justify exterminating 6 million Jews they thought were of an “inferior race”.
That said, with all due respect to Greenblatt, I do not think Whoopi’s mind-boggling ignorance on this one topic warrants The (very liberal) View hiring a Jewish co-host to make amends or compensate. Her fulsome apology makes clear she has learned her lesson. There are many other shows and places where the ADL can use its lobbying might to fight anti-Semitic hate…
On the other hand, I agree with Victoria Gagliardo-Silver, a real Black Jewish woman, who penned an Op-Ed for the February 2 edition of The Independent expressing empathy with Whoopie and sadness over her suspension. After all, who on The View will now engage in a frank exchange of views if an earnest blunder, followed by an abject apology, can still result in even further humiliation … with a suspension.