By Donald H. Harrison

Whoopi Goldberg was wrong but as far as I’m concerned, the folks at ABC and The View were too harsh when they suspended her for two weeks.

Let me explain.

In a discussion of the Holocaust on The View television show, Goldberg commented that the Holocaust wasn’t racist because it was white people persecuting other white people.

On the face of it, that seemed a correct statement. The Holocaust, for the most part, occurred on the European continent, where Jews are predominantly white-skinned.

Adolf Hitler and the Nazis thought of Jews as a “race” rather than a “religious group” and devised an entire system to determine whether someone had “Jewish blood,” or not, as a first step toward the mass slaughter of our people.

So, from the standpoint of the Nazis, they were being “racists,” which in their twisted view of the world was a compliment and not an insult.

To the extent that Goldberg did not understand the extent of Nazi racism, she made a mistake for which she apologized.

However, I don’t believe there is anything in Goldberg’s record that suggests malice toward the Jewish people. When she changed her name from Caryn Elaine Johnson to Whoopi Goldberg, she picked a classically Jewish-sounding surname, and I don’t think someone who felt malice toward Jews would do such a thing.

A Wikipedia article quotes what Goldberg told The Jewish Chronicle in 2011: “My mother did not name me Whoopi but Goldberg is my name – it’s part of my family, part of my heritage, just like being Black” and “I just know I am Jewish. I practice nothing. I don’t go to temple, but I do remember the holidays.”

Genealogists subsequently found no evidence of Goldberg’s Jewish ancestry, but she wasn’t the first celebrity to claim such a connection. Frida Kahlo told the world her father was Jewish, but that wasn’t so. If Goldberg ever decides to convert to Judaism, I’d be quick to say “Whoopee!”

The controversy’s underlying question is just what are we Jews? It’s clear to us that we’re not a race because there are White Jews from Europe; Black Jews from Ethiopia, Uganda, and other parts of Africa; and Jews of various hues living in the Far East, the Asian Subcontinent, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Neither are we strictly a religion nor a philosophy. While the Tanakh, Talmud, and the learned writings of commentators are all part of our intellectual background, some Jews are atheists, other humanists, and those who are deists divide into groups including Jewish Renewal, Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, and Chasidic – just to name the movements that are represented in San Diego County. We also have Jews who combine their Judaism with other religions, including “JuBu’s” – Jews who include Buddhist practice – and, more controversially, “Messianic Jews,” those who believe you can be both Jewish and Christian at the same time.

Clearly, we Jews are not a nationality, even though Israel is considered a national home for the Jews. I can say that with confidence because I, along with my family, and many friends are American Jews, who consider Americanism and Judaism equally important parts of our identity – just as our mothers and fathers are equally important factors in our genetic makeup. There are Jews in many other countries around the world who feel just as patriotic about their nations.

So not a race, not a religion, not a philosophy, not a nationality – who or what are we? I like the answer that Mordecai Kaplan offered: We Jews are a people, with many differences, but with a feeling that no matter what kind of Jew we are, we have a bond with each other.

So c’mon ABC and The View: Give Whoopi the break that all people of good will deserve.

Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via [email protected]. This article is republished from San Diego Jewish World which, along with The Moderate Voice, is a member of the San Diego Online Music Association.