Recently Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of the ABC News talk show “The View,” was suspended for comments she made about the Jewish Holocaust. She said the Holocaust … “is not about race; it’s about man’s inhumanity to man…these are two white groups of people.” The Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups took immediate umbrage, and as a result, she received two weeks unpaid leave, even though she offered sincere apologies – twice. She said that it was about race AND man’s inhumanity to man.
One of the outstanding ironies of this situation is that Whoopi, citing the inhumanity of the Holocaust, accurately pinpointed what was at the bottom of the situation. No one can deny that the Holocaust was about man’s inhumanity to man! The race aspect is a little more esoteric. It is a truism that for many years there has been a question as to whether or not Judaism is a “race” or a “religion.” Apparently, it is BOTH.
As a result of Goldberg’s comments, she is being castigated for what was a misunderstanding; there was no negative intent in her comments. She is being subjected to punishment even though her comments were benign at best. Another irony of the situation is that an African American, Kim Godwin, was the ABC News president who suspended her.
In Goldberg’s apology, she cited ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt’s statement that “the Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people – who they deemed to be an inferior race.” Yes, this is true; the Holocaust was carrying out what the Nazi’s called the “final solution”; their target was definitely genocide of the Jewish people.
Now that brings up another concern, which is why there is some confusion about the issue.
There are a lot of Black people who say they are the real Jews, and have adopted Judaism as a religion. They consider themselves to be the original Jews (Hebrews). In fact, there are a number of American Blacks who have moved to Israel and have taken up residency. They have adopted the language and customs of Judaism. An irony connected with this is that they have been subjected to extreme bigotry in Israel.
On another note, there is the mystery of the 12 tribes of Israel. To date, the identity of 10 of those tribes is “lost;” no one has come up with a definitive explanation as to who comprises those tribes. The only groups identified today are the Ashkenazi Jews and the Sephardic Jews.
Another irony of the situation is that ongoing contemporary “wisdom” posits that there is no such thing as a biological race; that “race” is a sociological construct.
If race is considered to really be actually non-existent, then the Holocaust could be seen by many to be a struggle between two groups of white people.
Another irony – there is a book written by Arthur Koestler called the “Thirteenth Tribe” that claims the Jewish people who call themselves Jews today are not really Jews; they are Khazars who adopted Judaism as a religion. Arthur Koestler was Jewish.
The ultimate irony is that Whoopi Goldberg was trying to point out man’s inhumanity to man, but in so doing, has become the target of man’s inhumanity, this time imposed on her! Just about everyone knows that Whoopi meant no harm; in fact, she was citing the evil that human beings inflict on each other. She is being sanctioned, which is impacting her financially and emotionally.
Whoopi is a warrior for righteousness who misspoke, who made an understandable mistake about a situation that is not as cut and dry as we would like to think.
Evidence of this is that the Jews were not the only ones targeted in the Holocaust: Romani (Gypsies), homosexuals, Blacks and Slavs were among others targeted by the Nazis. In fact, the Nazis identified themselves as members of a “master race” which pretty much relegated everyone who did not have the characteristics of that race, i.e., Nordic characteristics, inferior!
So, the idea of sanctioning Whoopi Goldberg, a member of arguably one of the most maligned races on the planet, is the ultimate irony! In other words, the Jews who are targeting her are like the kettle calling the pot black; they are doing to her what they say is being done to them! A Luta Continua.
