Whoopi Goldberg apologizes for saying Holocaust was not about race, says 'I stand corrected'

Entertainer Whoopi Goldberg has apologized for saying the Holocaust was not about race, comments she made on ABC's "The View" that caused a backlash.

"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," she tweeted Monday. "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."

The show's hosts earlier in the day were discussing the banning by a Tennessee school board of the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel "Maus," which is about the World War II Nazi concentration camps.

In banning the book, which sparked a national debate, the board cited nudity and profanity as the reasons its decison.

"I’m surprised that’s what made you uncomfortable, the fact that there was some nudity," Goldberg said about the reasoning. "I mean, it’s about the Holocaust, the killing of six million people, but that didn’t bother you? If you’re going to do this, then let’s be truthful about it. Because the Holocaust isn’t about race. No, it’s not about race."

Several of Goldberg's cohosts pointed out that Jews and Nazis were considered to be different races.

"But it's not about race. It's not. It’s about man's inhumanity to other man," said Goldberg, who also argued the Nazis and Jews were two white groups of people. "The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let's talk about it for what it is. It's how people treat each other. It's a problem," she said.

Greenblatt responded: "No the #Holocaust was about the Nazi's systematic annihilation of the Jewish people – who they deemed to be an inferior race. They dehumanized them and used this racist propaganda to justify slaughtering 6 million Jews. Holocaust distortion is dangerous."

Greenblatt, a former special assistant to President Obama, thanked Goldberg for the apology.