Several months after a petition made its rounds calling for Whoopi Goldberg to step down following the comments she made about the Holocaust, she’s still feeling the heat. In a new interview with The Sunday Times of London, Whoopi shared her two cents on whether or not she believes being Jewish should be classified as a race.
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, earlier this year, in January, Whoopi Goldberg issued a statement apologizing for her choice of words. During one of the tapings of the show she hosts, The View, Goldberg made a statement claiming that “the Holocaust isn’t about race.”
Goldberg made such comments while the cast was discussing the Tennessee school district’s decision to ban “Maus,” a novel that discusses the horrors of the Holocaust. Now she’s doubling down on that opinion
“My best friend said, ‘Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race,’ ” she told The Sunday Time of London. Journalist Janice Turner pushed back by mentioning the “racially divisive laws set by Nazis aimed at Jews.”
To which Goldberg responded by pushing back and claiming that the holocaust “wasn’t originally” about “racial” or “physical” attributes. “They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.”
“Nazis saw Jews as a race,” Turner continued. “Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?” Goldberg responded. “It doesn’t change the fact that you could not tell a Jew on a street. You could find me. You couldn’t find them.”
And just like her comments in January, Goldberg is being met with backlash.
Petition Calls for Whoopi Goldberg’s Removal From The View Several Months After Her Comments About the Holocaust
Goldberg noted that she was surprised the school district seemed to only take issue with the nudity in the novel, not the Holocaust itself, CNN reported. “If you’re going to do this, then let’s be truthful about it because the Holocaust isn’t about race.”
She then said, “Well, this is White people doing it to White people, so y’all gonna fight amongst yourselves.” Her comments angered a lot of people and Goldberg quickly issued an apology on Twitter.
“On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defemation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected.
The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused.”
Now, although several months have passed and Whoopi Goldberg is still a host on The View, the Metro is reporting that a petition has amassed over 45,121 signatures calling for her to step down as host of the popular daytime show.
The petition is seen at Change.org. “Whoopi has made numerous remarks about race that have ruffled feathers,” the petition read.
“But her most recent comment attacking victims of the holocaust and the entire Jewish community are disgusting. Apologies are not enough when it comes to things like this, This can and will not be forgotten.”
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We as Americans demand that she be fired from the daytime tv show The View for her repulsive verbiage and actions.”
Whoopi received a two-week suspension for her claims but has since returned to the show. It’s unclear if the show will take this petition into account. The petition is looking for 50,000 signatures.
ABC has not yet made a comment about the petition.