ABC News has suspended “The View” host and actress, Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks after she said the Holocaust was not about race.
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II.
Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population.
In a statement, Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, on Tuesday called Goldberg’s comments “wrong and hurtful.”
Godwin stated;
While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stand in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.
Goldberg made the initial comments on ABC’s ‘’The View”’ program on Monday morning.
The hosts on “The View” were discussing a Tennessee school board’s banning of “Maus,” a graphic novel about the Nazi death camps during World War II.
The board cited nudity and profanity as its reasons for banning the book, which has won several literary awards, including a Pulitzer Prize.
Goldberg during the show said;
I’m surprised that’s what made you uncomfortable, the fact that there was some nudity. I mean, it’s about the Holocaust, the killing of six million people, but that didn’t bother you? If you’re going to do this, then let’s be truthful about it. Because the Holocaust isn’t about race. No, it’s not about race.
A co-host, Joy Behar said that the Nazis said Jews were a different race.
“But it’s not about race. It’s not. It’s about man’s inhumanity to other man,” Goldberg replied.
Another co-host, Ana Navarro responded;
But it’s about white supremacy. It’s about going after Jews and Gypsies and Roma.
Goldberg said: “But these are two white groups of people.”
Sara Haines pointed out that the Nazis didn’t see Jewish people as white.
“But you’re missing the point!” Goldberg said, stressing;
The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It’s a problem.
However, Goldberg apologized in a tweet hours later, saying;
On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected.
The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies, Whoopi Goldberg.
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
