Whoopi Goldberg flap proves cancel culture has gone too far

I have a lot of thoughts about cancel culture, and most of them aren’t great. Do I believe in de-platforming dangerous people who have the potential to use those platforms to cause further harm (ahem, Trump)? Sure. But in the age of social media, where every word that comes out of our digital mouths can be screenshot and held up for the world to see, it seems to me that we’ve reached a place where people are sometimes reduced to their worst moments, shamed for them, and silenced. Which just…how can that possibly be the best course of action? 

The other day on the View, moderator Whoopi Goldberg made some decidedly ill-informed statements about the Holocaust. Take a listen.

[clip from “The View”]

So people were, understandably, upset. Unfortunately, she only made matters worse when she appeared on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, and basically reiterated her position in an attempt to explain herself. 

[Late Night with Stephen Colbert clip]

To clear this up: The Holocaust was one thousand percent about race. Hitler and the Third Reich believed that the Aryan race was genetically superior to all other races, and engaged upon a massive campaign to dehumanize and systematically annihilate Jews because they believed that Jews were a parasitic “lower race.” Subhuman. 

Now, even though Whoopi was objectively wrong, I understand where she was coming from. In today’s America, we think about race differently, in terms of people of color, but in Hitler’s Germany – and among white nationalists even today – Jews were very much seen in terms of not only their religion, but their race. And throughout history, they have been marginalized and slaughtered for this very reason.

So Whoopi was wrong. Misinformed. Coming at the issue from her own perspective based on her own lived experience. But here’s what happened next: She listened to the CEO of the anti-defamation league, who explained everything I just said about the Holocaust and race, and she went on the view, and she apologized.

[clip from “The View”]

“I regret my comments, and I stand corrected.”

To me, this is the best possible outcome. Someone is misinformed, and then they are educated. When it comes to Whoopi, who has a staggeringly large platform, there’s then the opportunity to use that moment to start a national conversation, and educate others. Except then Kim Godwin, president of ABC news, suspended Goldberg for two weeks so that she could, quote, take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.”

This sits poorly with me for a number of reasons. First, the “go sit in a corner and think about what you did” tenor of it just feels…icky, especially when the entire premise of the view – at least at its inception – was to put together a bunch of opinionated women with disparate perspectives, and have them discuss relevant issues. None of their jobs are predicated on Always Being Right.

But more importantly, If Whoopi Goldberg held these beliefs about the Holocaust, certainly plenty of other people do, too. Jews comprise only about 2% of the population – I’m one of them – and there are many, many Americans out there who have little to no experience with the Jewish culture or religion. 

All that suspending Goldberg does is shut down a conversation that’s taking on even more importance given the rash of anti-semitic incidents happening all over the US. What does a public shaming achieve that couldn’t be better achieved by having Goldberg on the view, talking about how what she previously believed and why she believed it, and what she has since learned.

Why do we choose to cancel when we could counsel? It’s a question we should all ask ourselves.