Whoopi Goldberg has had a very long career in the spotlight. As one of the liberal co-hosts of “The View,” she has become known for saying whatever she thinks. She says it loud and proud and almost dares anyone to disagree with her.
This is the same co-host who once said that she’d move to Canada if Trump were ever to get into the White House. Of course, she made an empty promise because she still lives in the U.S.
Recently, though, her opinions have gotten her suspended from her TV show – and her cohosts are seething at the network.
Goldberg thought that it would be okay for her to say that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. Instead, she said that it was about how people treat one another.
The moment she said it, even some of her co-hosts had a bit of pushback. After all, how can such an ignorant statement be uttered without some kind of pushback? Of course the Holocaust was about race. The actions taken by Adolf Hitler and the rest of the Nazis were to create a supreme race, one that did not involve Jews.
Goldberg didn’t immediately apologize for her comments. She stood strong. She assumed that the liberals would protect her because they’re allowed to spread misinformation whenever they want. Only after the fallout did she finally apologize.
However, even the liberal ABC network couldn’t protect her from her ignorance. They suspended her for two weeks – and she’s lucky that is her only punishment.
Only after ABC suspended Goldberg did she bother to speak up, but she still didn’t really issue an apology. She said, “My words upset so many people, which was never my intention.”
The Holocaust is such a politically-charged event that many people have strong and negative feelings toward it. She should have known that mentioning it in her effort to get people off the talk of race was going to be problematic.
ABC News President Kim Goodwin posted a statement on Twitter to say that the news organization “stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities.”
As for Goodwin’s comments on Goldberg, she mentioned that the co-host was asked to take some time off so that she could think about what she said and learn about how her comments impacted the community.
Many within the Jewish community were puzzled by Goldberg’s comments. They had loved how outspoken she was on many issues in the past. However, the moment that she brought Jews into the conversation, they felt “besieged.” As Rabbi Abraham Cooper explained, “Everything about Nazi Germany and about the targeting of the Jews and about the Holocaust was about race and racism.” He calls it an unfortunate historic fact.
And anyone who has studied that period of history will know that it is about race.
Goldberg is upset that she has been suspended over her words and has even threatened to leave the show. Of course, we know that most of her threats are empty. Otherwise, she’d be living in Canada instead of California right now.
If she wants to leave the show, she knows where the door is. The show would likely become a lot more bipartisan in the discussions if she were to go. And if she does decide to leave, perhaps she could take Joy Behar with her.
Meanwhile, there are plenty who are continuing to talk about how Goldberg’s words hurt them. As Kenneth L. Marcus, the chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law explained, it’s a whitewashing of the Jewish community and takes away their identity.
If someone had dared to say something about the history of Black Americans, Goldberg would be the first to point her finger and claim that they were trying to whitewash and erase history. Yet, she doesn’t seem to mind doing the same to other races.
A two-week suspension really doesn’t seem to be enough. The country would be a lot less divisive without Whoopi Goldberg on “The View.”
