Racism and Man's Inhumanity to Man
Should Whoopi Goldberg have been suspended?
Where did Whoopi Goldberg get the idea that the Holocaust was not about race but only “man’s inhumanity to man”? Should she have been suspended?
I am pleased to write my first article for the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) –– and to join FAIR’s board of advisors.
As I write in the article below, “the atrocities of the Holocaust most certainly do represent man’s inhumanity to man. But so do other examples of cruelty and dehumanization—even those more universally understood as ‘about race.’” Unfortunately, Goldberg’s misunderstanding is widespread. And it is aided by organizations that have adopted a particular view about race and racism encapsulated in a definition that for a year and a half was posted on the Anti-Defamation League’s website. But do we really want to go down a path of requiring employees to hold and express only officially sanctioned views?
For additional perspectives about the ADL’s definition of racism, Goldberg’s misunderstanding, and more, see Daniella Greenbaum’s article in the Washington Post, this article in The Forward by David Bernstein and Brandy Shufutinsky, and Andrew Sullivan’s substack post. Also, consider supporting organizations like the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (where I worked for four years), and the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (of which I am a member of the board).
More to come…