As a celebrity, everything they say, especially if it’s a strong personality with an opinion, will be held against them. Whoopi Goldberg made an ignorant and harmful remark about the Holocaust in this situation.
On the January 31st episode of “The View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg stated, “The Holocaust isn’t about race.” And when Joy Behar asked her to explain further, she answered, “It’s all about man’s inhumanity to man.”
Following the controversial statement, Goldberg issued an apology. She stated:
“So yesterday on our show, I misspoke. I said that the Holocaust wasn’t about race and it was instead about man’s inhumanity to man. But it is indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race. Now, words matter and mine are no exception. I regret my comments as I said and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people, as they know, and as you all know because I’ve always done that.”
However, Goldberg’s apology was not enough for Meghan McCain, who stated that it was insufficient on The Daily Mail. She criticized ABC’s reaction in an essay published by The Daily Mail.
In her essay, McCain explained that she has not watched any of the show’s episodes since she left. “When something goes viral from the show or ends up in the publications that I read I can’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment,” she said.
She had not seen her name in the news and did not know why, so she Googled herself. After hearing about Goldberg’s Holocaust remarks on the show, she felt compelled to speak out, and yes, she did.
“The American Jewish Committee released a report in October detailing the rise of antisemitism in America,” wrote McCain about this topic. She also stated that “there is serious cultural downplaying in the media” regarding the increase in antisemitism. To her, this is scary.
McCain continued: “In an era when so many forms of insult or criticism are labeled bigotry, true or not, actual bigotry toward the Jewish people is not just tolerated but defended in ways I find abhorrent. What we’re talking about here is just racism, pure and simple. I am not calling for Whoopi Goldberg to be fired, if only because I don’t believe there is any universe where she could possibly do anything that could get her fired – she is the crown jewel of The View and a pop culture icon. ”
“But I hope this can be used as a teachable moment to explain to millions of Americans why conflating the Holocaust as something that is specific and limited to ‘white people’ is insane, ahistorical and anti-Semitic.”
As proof that there is a “double, triple and even quadruple standard if you are conservative,” she cited the case of Roseanne Barr. As she explained it: “There are those who will be given protection and coverage for their bad behavior from networks and executives no matter what.”
To sum up her essay, McCain remarked: “And for those who hope and work against anti-Semitic forces in our country, we cannot afford to forget what was done, and why, and know this evil for what it is.”
What do you think of Whoopi Goldberg’s remarks about the Holocaust?
