(Immersed in a sea of whiteness: Whoopi Goldberg; photography by Annie Leibovitz)
You know, I can't really blame Whoopi Goldberg for being a house nigger.
After all, it's been white men who have always made her feel welcomed and desirable. Black people--black men in particular--have done nothing but abuse or otherwise diminish her. That's never been a secret.
While that might explain her defense of Mel Gibson's racist and misogynistic rants, it doesn't excuse it. Whoopi said:
"I know Mel, and I know he's not a racist. I have had a long friendship with Mel. You can say he's being a bonehead, but I can't sit and say that he's a racist having spent time with him in my house with my kids."
Well, Miss Goldberg, as you might recall, Thomas Jefferson claimed to have loved Sally Hemings with all his heart and soul--but he was also a slave owner. What I'm trying to say is that it's very possible for two seemingly contradictory things to be true about a person.
"I have black friends" is not a suitable defense against the charge of racism.