Whoopi Goldberg Suspended
But was she actually being anti-Semitic?
Full disclosure here — I generally avoid The View. The constant interruptions give me a headache and I don’t like most of them.
That being said, I do like Whoopi. She seems like a genuine person who has overcome great adversity in her life. Plus I’ve truly enjoyed her body of work, from her tour de force in the magnificent and moving The Color Purple to the hilarity she brought to Ghost and Jumping Jack Flash.
So what gives with suspending her for 2 weeks?
She made a comment that pointed out that the Jews are white so the Holocaust was not about race so much as man’s inhumanity.
The thing is, for many people of color — we do see Jews as whites. At least I did growing up. I went to high school at Stuyvesant, and at the time probably 30% of the students were Jewish. Many had blond or reddish hair, fair skin that easily burned, and blue or hazel eyes. Many were German or Russian Jews.
Yes, they seemed white to me when compared to my friends from India, China, and Colombia, let alone my black friends.
I viewed them as fellow human beings. I certainly didn’t view Jews as caricatures with hooked noses, just as I didn’t buy into the caricatures of black folks or the Irish. Or Indians and Chinese. The fact is that prejudice has been on display for generations and it dehumanizes people and excuses cruelty. It’s wrong.
Of course there is more to it than that in the context of the Holocaust.
Hitler and the National Socialists (Nazis) divided people into races. They categorized Jews as an inferior race, and, along with other “weak” and “dangerous” people like the gypsies, they tried to eradicate them. It is a profound evil that so many millions died during the Holocaust.
And yes, this was racist against the Jews.
So, there is historical context that Whoopi was ignorant of.
Guess what?
She did the right thing. She apologized. Does anyone really believe she wasn’t truly sorry for hurting people? Does anyone really think Whoopi is racist or an anti-Semite?
In a later appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” Whoopi apologized. She explained that, as a black person, she thinks of racism as being based on skin color but that she realized not everyone sees it that way. “I get it. Folks are angry,” she said. “I accept that, and I did it to myself.”
She apologized again on Tuesday at the start of “The View.” She expressed remorse over her remarks, saying she realized that they were misinformed and that she had misspoken. She expressed gratitude for a chance to become informed.
To me this is the key — she was open to learning and she committed to doing better. So why are we suspending her?
With the awful rise of anti-Semitism, most recently in a Texas synagogue, we all need to be better informed and cognizant of this issue. It’s a growing problem as a report by the Anti-Defamation League showed that over a billion people globally hold anti-Semitic views and an astonishing number, over a third, had never heard of the Holocaust.
However, Whoopi’s comments gave a chance to educate people, to explain and to learn. These are important things. I don’t think suspending Whoopi was the right call. Further dialog to help people understand and to stand against prejudice seems a better strategy. We need to do a better job educating people and we all need to stand up against genocide. JMHO.
