I DISAGREE.
I disagree with your statement here.
I disagree with Whoopi Goldberg's statement.
I disagree with the "suspension" ABC gave Goldberg.
How we "comprehend" past acts of racism determines how we deal with racism today. So, contrary to your assertion, we must be as concerned with comprehension of this history as with current racism.
Unfortunately, too many in both the Black and Jewish communities see these past acts only through the lens of their own “race.” That was Goldberg's mistake. That is the mistake of Jews who view the Holocaust as an attack only on Jews, thus justifying the current atrocities of the State of Israel.
What we need is more, not less, dialogue. The mistake of ABC was cutting off the discussion by "suspending" Goldberg. Instead, they should have required more, perhaps a whole View episode devoted to the subject.
This issue is personal. Most of my family was murdered in Europe because of their "race." The basis for the hatred which led to the Holocaust is embedded in the Church, and repeated to this day, including in Black churches. My wife is descended from Africans held in slavery in America. Her family moved to California during Jim Crow; and when they arrived in what was once a restricted all-white neighborhood (South LA), all the White people ran away. So what should our son make of all this? On one side he has Africans held as slaves in America, while on the other he has Hebrews held as slaves in Africa.
Actually, he has dealt quite well with this difficult issue. His "parsha" - portion of the Bible - he read for his Bar Mitzvah was the rules for slavery in the Bible. He made us proud by pointing out that we must end all forms of slavery, no matter by whom or to whom.
