I Do See Color

Share this post

Suspending Whoopi is the worst way to fix ‘The View’ uproar

idoseecolor.substack.com

Suspending Whoopi is the worst way to fix ‘The View’ uproar

Silencing Holocaust history lesson only helps anti-CRT debate

Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Feb 2, 2022
∙ Paid
Share this post

Suspending Whoopi is the worst way to fix ‘The View’ uproar

idoseecolor.substack.com
Share
Photo credit: Mark Taylor/Wikimedia Commons

Writer’s note: This post was originally published on Medium’s “We Need to Talk” on February 2, 2022.


Of all the places in the world to get a Jewish history lesson, mine was on “90210.” I attended a predominantly black elementary school and a diverse high school, but the Holocaust just did not come up. However, I remember a TV episode in the early ’90s (and I believe it was “Hate Is Just a Four Letter Word”) with Andrea Zuckerman (played by 
Gabrielle Carteris) talking about an anti-Semitic, African-American speaker coming to their school. My first instinct was “defend the black guy.” But then I kept listening. At the age of 13, I was fascinated and horrified while listening to her talk about the prejudices she faced being Jewish.

Fast forward some years later during my early freelancing years. I was hired to read a book called “The Auschwitz Escape” by Joel C. Rosenberg and create this editorial package for readers with chapter-by-chapter outlines, notes, summaries and so forth. I devoured that book. Again, I was horrified by what these people faced, but I was also enlightened. I don’t recall whether it was in this book or a book I read after that, but I remember discussion of a “master race” with blond hair and blue eyes. The latter topic was when I started to learn just how much physical appearance played as much of a part in the Holocaust as culture, religion, etc.

While watching “90210,” I kept thinking, “Who would even know these characters are Jewish? It’s not like you can see it from afar?” But that Rosenberg book filled in some blanks.


When I saw the clip of “The View” — a show I had zero patience to watch during the Meghan McCain years — with Whoopi Goldberg confidently saying the Holocaust was not about race, I squinted at the screen, reflecting on weeks of work that I did for that educational packet. Either everything I read and researched was wrong, or this EGOT recipient was about to put me onto some new history information I had no clue about. Nope. She didn’t. Wrong, wrong and wrong.

I sighed when she got on “The Late Show” and still didn’t seem to see where the problem was with her statement.

Here’s the thing. I get why she believes the Holocaust was not about race in the same way I was stumped by that “90210” episode. I’m just not going to know who is Jewish when I walk down the street. On a surface level, I get her point. But just taking a beat and talking to someone who is Jewish or reading more about the Holocaust could’ve corrected this statement before she got on a live television talk segment and made this comment with such confidence — and ignorance.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2023 Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing