‘Antisemitism in broad daylight’: Is Fox News right about Whoopi Goldberg Holocaust comments?

Siam (No)

On 'The View' on Monday, Whoopi Goldberg argued with her colleagues that the Holocaust was not about race. When asked to define her comment, she stated that it was more about 'man's inhumanity to man.' And despite the media hysteria about her misrepresentation of the Holocaust, she should not be suspended for the following reasons.

It appears Whoopi is more ignorant about this area of history or Jewish matters rather than being an antisemite. She has been in the public eye for several decades and has said many outrageous things, but has never before said anything that is remotely or purposefully antisemitic. Whoopi is on a TV show where the hosts are always digging into controversial topics and arguing among themselves according to the show's script. While saying that race was not a factor in the Holocaust event was factually wrong, she does not use this to show any ouright hatred towards anyone; as soon as people corrected her, she apologized and later explained her misstatement. Whoopi was too caught up in judging the Holocaust based on present-day norms. Saying it was 'white men against white men' clearly shows that Whoopi was conflating the socially contrived difference between ‘race' and 'ethnicity.’ 

Rather than continuing with 'cancel' culture, it is time to bring in 'counsel' culture. Whoopi is badly in need of some basic historical education about the Holocaust, but surely not punishment. The current thinking that society should punish everyone who says something we do not agree with is getting out of hand. However, at the end of the day, she has apologized and been suspended, but whether one likes her or not, she is not an antisemite.

Curtice (Yes)

On last Monday's installment of The View, Whoopi Goldberg stated that the Holocaust was not about race, claiming, 'This is white people doing it to white people.' Later, Fox News contributor Joe Concha reacted, rightly calling her comments, 'Antisemitism in broad daylight. 

Goldberg's comments lacked any context, and she failed to display even a remedial understanding of the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. During World War I, the German people were caught off-guard when they lost the war. Some couldn't believe Germany truly lost on the battlefield and began looking for scapegoats. One popular conspiracy theory was that the Jews had stabbed Germany in the back, leading to its defeat.

The Nazis fomented this and used the Jews as scapegoats for that and other perceived ills in Germany. The Nazis considered the Jews to be an ‘inferior race,” compared to the Aryan race, which they believed was not only superior, but belonged to Hitler and his Nazis. This thereby justifyied the systematic genocide against the Jews. It is why they felt it gave them the moral authority to eliminate six million Jews during the Holocaust.

Goldberg should be sensitive to racial issues and understandably so. This should have given her pause before speaking so haphazardly. 

Hitler referred to the Jews as “a race,” and the Nuremberg laws were directed against Jews not just as a religion, but as a race. Throughout history, Jews have been considered their own racial group. Only in the modern era have Jews been conflated with White groups, due to intersectionality, a harmful socially Marxist position that pits each other based on race and skin color. Whoopi’s comments matter, and while many claim have come from ignorance, they were dangerous and wrong in its antisemitism.