Onyeka 
Sister Act actress and TV presenter Whoopi Goldberg (66) was yesterday February 1, suspended from ABC News’ The View after she made hurtful and controversial comments about the Holocaust.
According to the memo released by ABC president Kim Godwin, her suspension will last for two weeks.
Goldberg’s suspension came after she had apologised for her comments, following backclash from viewers and several influential people.
We have put together this post to explain exactly why Goldberg’s comments have earned her more criticisms than plaudits.
What is the Holocaust?
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah is one of the most tragic incidents in the history of modern mankind, if not the most tragic. Driven by antisemitism and racism, it was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Majority of them met their deaths through shooting, and being tortured or gassed to death.
Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators, under the guidance of Hitler systematically murdered more than six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population.
The murders were carried out in persecutions and mass shootings; by a policy of extermination through labour in concentration camps; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps, setup mainly in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bełżec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibór, and Treblinka in occupied Poland.
What Did Whoopi Goldberg Say?
Every 27th January, victims of the Holocaust are remembered all over the world. So, during Goldberb’s appearance on ABC’s The View on Monday 31st January, during a segment about Maus (a nonfiction book about the Holocaust), Goldberg insisted that the Holocaust was never about racism.
“Let’s be truthful about it because Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s not about race. It’s not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”
Co-host Ana Navarro responded to Goldberg, saying: “But it’s about white supremacists going after Jews.“
“But these are two white groups of people!” Goldberg replied. “The minute you turn it into race it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white, Jews, it’s each other.”
As part of ABC News culture to commit to kindness, inclusion, respectfulness, and transparency, Goldberg’s comments have been deemed inappropriate, unacceptable, and disrespectful to Jews and humanity alike, and that’s exactly why the Sarafina actress has been trending and will now stay away from ABC for two weeks.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings