ABC suspends Whoopi Goldberg for comments on the Holocaust

Whoopi Goldberg was suspended for two weeks Tuesday as co-anchor of “The View” because of what the ABC News chief called her “wrong and hurtful comments” about Jews and the Holocaust.

“While Whoopi has apologized, I have asked her to take some time to reflect and understand the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities,” ABC News President Kim Godwin said in a statement.

The suspension came a day after Goldberg’s comment during a discussion on “The View” that race was not a factor in the Holocaust. Goldberg apologized hours later and again on Tuesday morning’s episode, but the original comment drew condemnation from several prominent Jewish leaders.

“My words upset so many people, which was never my intention,” he said Tuesday morning. “I understand why now and for that I am deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful and helped me understand some different things.”

Goldberg made his original comments during a discussion on the show Monday about a Tennessee school board’s ban on “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about Nazi death camps during World War II. She said the Holocaust “is not about race… it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”

“I talked bad to myself,” Goldberg said at the show’s opener on Tuesday.

The outburst of Goldberg’s remarks this week highlighted the enduring complexity of some race-related issues, including the widespread but strongly contested notion that only people of color can be victims of racism.

“Effective immediately, I will suspend Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her inaccurate and hurtful comments,” Godwin said in his statement.

“The View” brought in Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League and author of “It Could Happen Here,” on Tuesday to discuss why his words had been hurtful.

“Jews right now feel under siege,” Greenblatt said.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, praised Goldberg for years of being outspoken about social issues, but said he had a hard time understanding her statement about the Holocaust.

“The only explanation I have is that there is a new definition of racism that has been made publicly available recently that defines racism exclusively as targeting people of color. And obviously history teaches us otherwise,” Cooper said.

“Everything about Nazi Germany and about the attacks on Jews and about the Holocaust was about race and racism. That is the unquestionable and unfortunate historical fact,” she said.

Kenneth L. Marcus, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, linked Goldberg’s comments to broader misconceptions about the Holocaust, Jewish identity, and anti-Semitism.

“In his error, he was reflecting a misunderstanding of Jewish identity that is both pervasive and dangerous and is sometimes described as draft anti-Semitism,” said Marcus, author of The Definition of Anti-Semitism.

“It’s the notion that Jews should be seen only as white, privileged oppressors,” he said. “It denies Jewish identity and implies a whitewashing of Jewish history.”

Marcus referred to the use of anti-Jewish stereotypes “about being powerful, controlling and sinister”, along with minimizing or denying anti-Semitism.

Jill Savitt, president and CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, offered a measured take on Goldberg’s comments.

“No one can get into Whoopi Goldberg’s head…but I think what she’s trying to say is that the Holocaust is about hate. It’s about inhumanity. It is about what human beings will do to each other that is inhumane,” Savitt said.

Complex problems demand more than blame, he said.

“I think people aren’t that quick to give anyone the benefit of the doubt these days, which is a shame because in order to solve painful, complicated, difficult problems, especially painful stories,” Savitt said, “we could give each other a few others a little more grace because people are going to make mistakes or say things that offend”.

In Israel, being Jewish is rarely seen in racial terms, in part because of the country’s great diversity. However, Jewish identity goes far beyond religion. Israelis generally refer to the “Jewish people” or “Jewish nation,” describing a group or civilization united by shared history, culture, language and traditions and deep ties to Jewish communities abroad.

On “The View” on Monday, Goldberg, who is African-American, expressed surprise that some members of the Tennessee school board were uncomfortable with the nudity in “Maus.”

“I mean, it’s about the Holocaust, the murder of 6 million people, but doesn’t that bother you?” she said. “If you’re going to do this, then let’s be honest about it. Because the Holocaust is not about race. No, it’s not about race.”

She continued in that line despite the rejection of some of her fellow panelists.

The US Holocaust Museum in Washington responded to Goldberg with a tweet.

“Racism was central to Nazi ideology. Jews were not defined by religion, but by race. Nazi racist beliefs fueled genocide and mass murder,” he said.

That The tweet also included a link to the museum’s online encyclopedia. which said that the Nazis attributed negative stereotypes about Jews to a biologically determined racial heritage.

Savitt said that while Jews are not a race, the Nazis made Judaism a race in their effort to create a racial hierarchy that “borrowed this, it should be said, from the American conversation about racial superiority and eugenics.”

On Twitter, there were several calls for Goldberg’s firing, where he seemed to be caught up in the familiar debates between left and right.

Greenblatt said the talk show, searching for a new co-host following Meghan McCain’s departure last summer, should consider hiring a Jewish woman to keep the issue of anti-Semitism front and center.

Source-listindiario.com