February 1, 2022
Whoopi Goldberg backtracks after claiming Holocaust was ‘not about race’
American actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg has been slammed for expressing her views on the Holocaust. During a discussion about the award-winning graphic novel Maus on The View, Goldberg said the Holocaust was “not about race”, adding that it was “two groups of white people”.
The 66-year-old actress has since issued an apology for her remarks.
BANNING OF ‘MAUS’
Art Spiegelman’s 1986 graphic novel Maus was the centre of a heated discussion on American talk show The View. The talk show hosts were discussing the banning of the book at schools in eastern Tennessee.
The book, centered around the Holocaust, was banned due to the use of foul language and some graphic images which the McMinn County board felt were inappropriate for young children.
“It shows people hanging [and] it shows them killing kids. Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise of or healthy,” said board member Tony Allman.
Maus, which depicts Jews as mice and Germans as cats, was put into schools for pupils to learn about the murder of millions of Jews during World War Two.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG’S COMMENTS
Speaking about the banning of Maus on The View, Whoopi Goldberg was of the opinion that the Holocaust was “not about race”.
“It’s not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man,” she said.
“These are two groups of white people.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white. Because, black, white, Jews, everybody eats each other! If you’re uncomfortable if you hear about Maus, should you be worried? Should your child say ‘I wonder if that’s me?’.”
“No, that’s not what they’re gonna say. They’re gonna say I don’t wanna be like that.”
TAKE A LOOK
WHOOPI GOLDBERG APOLOGISES
In a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday 1 February, Whoopi Goldberg apologised for her comments.
“I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both.”
Whoopi Goldberg
As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared: “The Holocaust was about the Nazis’ systematic annihilation of the Jewish people who they deemed to be an inferior race. I stand corrected.”
source: thesouthafrican.com
