Is Whoopi Goldberg Black? Are Jews White? What do we mean by Race? And why did Whoopi get Suspended from The View?

On February 1, 2022 Whoopi Goldberg got a two week suspension from The View, the early morning women’s talk show that she hosts.  It occurred because of things she said about the Holocaust, race, and Jews as a category. 

This is a really complex issue.  Anything in America involving “race” gets hot very quickly.  We can’t even agree upon what the word “race” means.  And when we move on to "racism" it becomes an explosive quagmire very quickly.   

This is my effort to discuss the complexities of this topic.  

I discussed some definitions of race.  In case those zipped past, I include them here. 

International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, 1969: 

“any distinction, exclusion restriction of preference based o race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” 

UNESCO definition of racism, 1978

1. Any theory which involves the claim that racial or ethnic groups are inherently superior or inferior, thus implying that some would be entitled to dominate or eliminate others, presumed to be inferior, or which bases value judgements on racial differentiation, has no scientific foundation and is contrary to the moral and ethical principles of humanity. 

2. Racism includes racist ideologies, prejudiced attitudes, discriminatory behaviour, structural arrangements and institutionalized practices resulting in racial inequality as well as the fallacious notion that discriminatory relations between groups are morally and scientifically justifiable; it is reflected in discriminatory provisions in legislation or regulations and discriminatory practices as well as in anti-social beliefs and acts; it hinders the development of its victims, perverts those who practise it, divides nations internally, impedes international co-operation and gives rise to political tensions between peoples; it is contrary to the fundamental principles of international law and, consequently, seriously disturbs international peace and security. 3. Racial prejudice, historically linked with inequalities in power, reinforced by economic and social differences between individuals and groups, and still seeking today to justify such inequalities, is totally without justification.

ADL:  Three definitions over time. 

Before July 2020,’the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics…the hatred of one person by another — or the belief that another person is less than human — because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person.” 

 July, 2020: “the marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people” 

 Post-Whoopi definition: “Racism occurs when individuals or institutions show more favorable evaluation or treatment of an individual or group based on race or ethnicity.” 

 And the Kenya word for a white person is Mzungu.