Welp. She's toast.

This seemed like an innocent mistake to me. There are lots of people who see the holocaust through an American lens without meaning harm.  It doesn't make sense to them that it can be about race if both groups look white. She also apologized, so I wish people would give her a break. Why draw blood from people who aren't actively malicious if they are willing to learn?

As a Jew I think what she said was damn stupid, but the right is very transparently capitalizing on it to get their own back for Meghan McCain. I do think she should be disciplined but this seems beyond the pale.

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 20223 yr by janea4old

https://www.yahoo.com/news/whoopi-suspended-view-two-weeks-024526146.html

The View has said many racist stuff over the years, but ABC suspended a black woman.

Go figure.

9 hours ago, reallyhateskateonlost said:

The View has said many racist stuff over the years, but ABC suspended a black woman.

Go figure.

They let Whoopi off easy and we both know that. I'm glad that they did though, I am glad they are only giving her a 2 week suspension, and that she is willing to learn.  Still though, cancel culture has been far less forgiving with some people.

I understand why said what she did, but she should have let the other's opinions have more time for rebuttal.  She certainly apologized and had a rebuttal Jewish leader on to say why she was wrong.  I think that should have been enough.

I understand where that thinking comes from if you don't fully understand the Holocaust, but it's dead wrong and I'm glad she was forcefully corrected. I don't think she needs to lose her job over it unless she triples down, and I do think it's an unfortunate look that she is suspended but to my knowledge McCain was never disciplined in public.

I'm conflicted by the cultural response to Holocaust comparisons.

One the one hand when people like RFK Jr make comparisons between vaccination efforts and the Holocaust, I usually write them off as being hyperbolic and ill-informed.  As a Jewish man with relatives effected by the Holocaust, I don't think it belittles or denies their experience if some cultural/political figure is stupid with their choice of words.

On the other hand, I researched the study that set off Whoopi's comments on The View.  They were discussing a small school district that had considered a ban on teaching about the history of the Holocaust.  In contrast, The View cited a study done in 2020 (linked below) that 63% of those born after 2000 could not correctly state that 6 million Jews died as a result of the Holocaust.  That made me think of the Satayana quote, "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it", which makes the context of Whoopi's misinformation all the worse.

Obviously, Whoopi's actual remark was more nuanced than the headline.  She was making the point that it was not about race, but man's inhumanity toward man.  And, Adam Feldman had an interesting take that calling Jews a race, as opposed to an ethnicity, is part of the hate-filled reasoning the German government used for the mass extinction.   However, some boundary must be set about how much misinformation any network is willing to support.  Therefore, I agree with the suspension.

Although there is also a suspicious side of me that thinks it is mighty convenient that during February sweeps, while the View is competing with the Olympics on NBC, Whoopi will return right before the end of the period, which will probably draw more viewers.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/survey-finds-shocking-lack-holocaust-knowledge-among-millennials-gen-z-n1240031

Edited February 3, 20223 yr by j swift

I know what her point was. It was wrong.

13 minutes ago, Vee said:

I know what her point was. It was wrong.

She was definitely wrong. I wonder how it happened though. Did her people not brief her on the days topic? So much of what was happening in Germany involved the concept of "the master race", which wasn't about being white but being Aryan.  I'm just surprised that something in her mind didn't click on that during the discussion because it's so basic. I feel like I've known they were trying to build a race of tall blondes with blue eyes since I was 10.  Not to mention how everyone knew it was a big F*ck You to Hitler when Jesse Owens won gold in Berlin.

It must be hard to have these kind of conversations off the cuff though.  I can only imagine the mistakes I would make if I had to talk about controversial subjects everyday in a back and forth format. Still when you have an audience you have to be on top of things or consequences follow.

I think if she hadn't gone on Colbert the same night(?) before Tuesday's retraction it might not have been such an issue. But Whoopi can be obtuse on a good day.

When she and Ted Danson got into trouble over that blackface incident at the Friars Club, I knew she wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box.

7 minutes ago, Juliajms said:

Did her people not brief her on the days topic?

I recently read that during the McCain era the producers abandoned the legendary morning meeting where the hosts develop the Hot Topics because it became too contentious, and now each host is briefed individually based upon how much information they want ahead of time. 

Edited February 3, 20223 yr by j swift