Whoopi Goldberg apologizes for claiming the ‘Holocaust was not about race’

In a statement Monday night, the comedian turned daytime host said, "On Today’s show, I said the Holocaust 'is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.' I should have said it is about both."

"As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, 'The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.' I stand corrected. The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies, Whoopi Goldberg."

Goldberg made the comments during a conversation about the graphic novel Maus being pulled from the curriculum in a Tennessee school due to graphic content. Concerns over the pulling of the book included that the lesson on the Holocaust would be skipped.

Her co-hosts offered some pushback, but let her speak. "No," Goldberg went on, "it's not about race." She shrugged. "It's not about race."

"What is it about" Joey Behar asked.

"It's about man's inhumanity to man," Goldberg said. "That's what it's about."

"But it's about white supremacy," Ana Navarro said. "It's about going after Jews, and Gypsies—"

"But these are two white groups of people," Goldberg said. Co-hosts pushed back, saying that the white supremacist Nazis didn't view Semitic Jews as white at all.

"But you're missing the point," Goldberg said. "The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley," she said with hand gestures to elucidate her point.

"Let's talk about it for what it is. It's how people treat each other. It's a problem. It doesn't matter if you're black or white, 'cause black, white, Jews, Italians, everybody eats each other. So is it, if you're uncomfortable if you hear about Maus, should you be worried, should your child say 'oh my God, I wonder if that's me.' No, that's not what they're gonna say, they're gonna say 'I don't wanna be like that.'"

"Most kids," Goldberg went on, "they don't want to be cruel."

"We're living in an era," Navarro said, "where people are comparing vaccine cards to the yellow stars, where people are comparing vaccinations to what Anne Frank went through. So it is necessary for kids to learn about the Holocaust."

"They should learn about man's inhumanity to man, however it exposes itself," Goldberg said.