Whoopi Golberg told her co-hosts Monday on ABC’s “The View” that “the Holocaust isn’t about race” while discussing a Tennessee school district removing Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus from their curriculum.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “This was the plan with these anti-history laws that started being passed. These CRT — alleged CRT laws — started being passed. I don’t think people saw far enough into the future. You start banning discussions about race, and then you start banning discussions about the Holocaust, then you start banning discussions about the LGBTQ community. That’s where it started, and this was all very planned in my view. What bothers me the most is people saying, I don’t want my children to be uncomfortable. Well, how about your children being uncomfortable in a way of learning empathy, in a way of learning sorrow, and a way of being able to empathize with other people’s plights?”
Joy Behar said, “If you teach a white kid what happened to his friend who happens to be black, he might feel terrible about what happened. That doesn’t mean he feels bad that he did something. This is the confusion they’re creating, I believe.”
Goldberg 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.”
Hostin said, “Maybe about ethnicity.”
Referencing the Nazis, Behar said, “Well, they considered Jews a different race.”
Goldberg continued, “It’s not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man. That’s what it’s about.”
Co-host Ana Navarro said, “But it’s about white supremacy.”
Goldberg said, “These are two white groups of people.”
She added, “But you’re missing the point. You’re missing the point. 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. That’s the problem. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white, because black, white, Jews, Italians, everybody eats each other. So is it — if you are uncomfortable if you hear about Maus, should you be worried — should your child say, oh my God, I wonder if that’s me? No. That’s not what they’re going to say. They’re going to say, ‘I don’t want to be like that.'”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN