Co-host of ABC’s “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg has recently come under fire for her disparaging remarks regarding the Holocaust. On the January 31st episode of the popular talkshow, Goldberg claimed that the Holocaust was “not about race” and instead about “man’s inhumanity to man” while the co-hosts were discussing Tenessee’s decision to ban Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” in schools.
Although her co-hosts challenged her assertion by arguing that the Holocaust was rooted in white supremacy, she doubled down on her remarks: “these are two white groups of people” said Goldberg in regards to the mass genocide of millions of Jewish people. After her disparaging remarks, Goldberg appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to explain her perspective on the matter and maintained her belief that race is about the color of your skin.
“Being Black when we talk about race, it’s a different thing for me. Because as a Black person, I think of race as something that I can see.” Goldberg said on the show.
Goldberg later apologized for her remarks with a statement posted on Twitter, correcting her previous comments and emphasizing the Nazi’s outlook towards Jewish people as an inferior race.
“The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I caused,” Goldberg tweeted.
Despite her apology, ABC News president Kim Godwin rightfully announced that Goldberg would be suspended from the show due to “her wrong and hurtful comments.”
Goldberg’s blunder on the talkshow seems to stem from her misinterpretation of the word “race” in context with the Holocaust — a completely irresponsible move on her part. Goldberg should have curated her thoughts more critically and responsibly before she stated her opinion.
While it was reckless of Goldberg to falsely misinterpret that the Holocaust was not about race, one can understand why her views on race, and ultimately racism would be largely based on skin color because the prejudice Black Americans have faced for centuries.
As a Black woman in the United States, the history of the struggle of Goldberg’s people is well documented. From the Atlantic Slave Trade that brought millions of Africans as slaves to the Americas, Jim Crow laws that made Black Americans second-class citizens, and the constant fatal police shootings of unarmed Black people, it’s resonable to think that Goldberg likely did not mean any harm when claiming that the Holocaust was not an issue of white supremacy but one of race — as Black Americans have dealt and continue to deal with racism and prejudice, since the inception of this country.
Even though Black Americans have dealt with race related issues for centuries, the context of race in the Holocaust has equivalent connations. The implication of this false concept of the Aryan race was adapted, manipulated, and radicalized from Nazi officials. Prior to manipulation and radicalization of the term, “Aryan” was used to define the similarities between European languages such as Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi, Sanskrit, and other related languages. However, the Nazi party adapted the word and defined it as a term to racially group people who they thought were inferior. Consequently, Nazi officials used the term in legislations in order to exclude Jewish people and other non-Aryans from professions, organizations, and other aspects of life.
The ideas of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime deeming Jewish people as being a weak, dangerous and an “inferior race,” is a classifcation of racism and race in itself. Not only did the Nazi Party claim the Jewish commuity as an inferior group of people, they also labeled other groups — Gypsies, Polish, Russian, and physically and mentally disabled people — as not deserving to be alive. The view towards race, anti-semitism and the belief that Nazis belonged to a “master race” of people, is what caused the mass genocide of the millions of people who were forced into Nazi concentraction camps during World War II. Despite the fact that they share the same skin complexion, the Nazis indicated that those of German or related blood were eligible to be citizens but not Jewish, Black, and Romani — also called “Gypsies” — people. In short, the Nazi ideology was based on the superiority of their white, Aryan race who were from German or other related ethnic backgrounds that they consdered somewhat equal to them.
Goldberg’s misinterpretive comment about the Holocaust is well deserving of an apology. She should have carefully thought through her comments before misconstruing the concept of race in the Holocaust. Without knowing the full context and facts behind her remarks, it came off as reckless and ignorant due to her not fully comprehending the Nazi’s racial ideologies.
It cannot be ignored that the events of the Holocaust were rooted in white supremacy, as it dealt with the systematic murder and extermination of all races which the Nazi Party found inferior. Goldberg’s irresponsible choice of words should be condemned.
Eric Mena is an Opinion Intern for the 2022 winter quarter. He can be reached at ermena@uci.edu.