Whoopsie: Whoopi Goldberg apologizes on 'The View' for saying Holocaust was ‘not about race’

Controversy

Feb 1

By Dana Davis // Racism // EEW Magazine Online

It may be Black History Month, but Jewish History took center stage on ABC's "The View" Tuesday, a day after co-host, Whoopi Goldberg, made a whoopsie by saying the Holocaust was “not about race.”

Damage control was in full swing, as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was given a platform on the show to speak about antisemitism and the history of the Holocaust.

The popular daytime chat fest opened with Goldberg, 66, issuing an on-air apology for her comments the day before during a discussion about a Tennessee school board voting to remove "Maus," a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from an eighth grade language arts curriculum.

"It's about man's inhumanity to man," Goldberg said Monday, explaining her view of the Holocaust and vehemently denying that racism was at its core.

The message landed with a thud then proceeded to explode on social media, drawing the vitriol of many.

Goldberg, an iconic star who is used to being on the receiving end of numerous accolades and major support, told viewers, "I misspoke. I understand why now, and for that, I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful and helped me understand some different things."

Goldberg, the only Black woman to achieve EGOT status—winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony—took a major blow to her ego by being forced to eat a huge slice of humble pie. Before repenting on national television, she first posted a written apology on social media Monday evening quoting Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the ADL, who said, "the Holocaust was about the Nazi's systemic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race."

Unironically, Greenblatt was the first guest on Tuesday's show and did not mince words about how inaccurate and harmful Goldberg's comments were.

"It was a radicalized antisemitism," Greenblatt said of the Holocaust. "Now that might not fit exactly or feel different from the way we think about racism in 21st century America,” he explained. “But, throughout the Jewish people's history, they have been marginalized, they have been persecuted, they have been slaughtered, in large part, because many people felt they were not just a different religion but indeed a different race."

Greenblatt stressed during his appearance that platforms like Goldberg’s are "so important," in the fight “to educate people that antisemitism remains a clear and present danger," he said. "I mean, it's a real issue, and we've got to confront it and the racism at the core."

Goldberg, who also popped in on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Monday night, said she "gets it" in response to the backlash and wanted to be sure she did not hastily throw out a "fake apology."

"I'm very upset that people misunderstood what I was saying," she said. "I thought we were having a discussion about race which I think everyone is having."

To be clear, the problem did not arise from the discussion of race, but rather, from Goldberg’s denial that race played a part in the Holocaust.