The star host of the show The View, Whoopi Goldberg, has been suspended by ABC network. On the Jan. 31, 2022 show, she stated the following regarding the Holocaust:

"It’s about the Holocaust, the killing of six million people, but that didn’t bother you?" she said. "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.”

Another host, Joy Behar, responded that the Nazis described Jews as a different race.

"But it’s not about race," Goldberg said. "It’s not. It’s about man’s inhumanity to other man."

When another host said that white supremacy was behind the Holocaust — and that Nazis targeted Jewish and Roma people — Goldberg said those are “white groups of people.” When a third host pointed out that the Nazis didn’t view Jews as white, Goldberg said she was “missing the point.”
Source: NBC

Here's a video clip which provides the full context of the conversation:
(the most relevant section starting at the 4:40 minute mark).


I'm real interested in getting an honest perspective here without any political spin. That's part of the main goal of this site!

For Debate:
1. Were Whoopi Goldberg's comments racist (towards Jews)?
2. If a Republican or a White person said the same thing, would they be called racist?
3. What should her punishment be? Should she be fired?
 
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I'll take the dive first.
1. Were Whoopi Goldberg's comments racist (against Jews)?
I don't believe that Whoopi is racist, but her comments were definitely racially insensitive. She disregarded the 'race' of the Jewish people, presumably because she only factored in skin color (instead of also including socio-cultural aspects) by saying they are just "White groups of people" in comparison to the Nazis. Many Asians have the same skin pigmentation as Europeans but we don't call Asians "White".

I believe someone can make a racist comment (a comment that offends a race) without being a racist. That's what I believed happened here. She apologized for it. There should definitely be some punishment for it. I wouldn't say she should get fired nor censured.

2. If a Republican or a White person said the same thing, would they be called racist?
If someone were looking to score political points, then indeed these comments would be used to attack someone for being a racist. Of course, we would also have to factor in if there's a previous track record of comments or behavior that go against a race.
 
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After listening to the views of many on this issue, I can say that Whoopi was most likely projecting American conceptions of race (where it's Black and White race only) onto European conceptions of race (which are not color dependent, or not solely at least).