As Tim Wise pointed out yesterday, another difficulty here that may have led Whoopi to say what she said lies in how Jewish people themselves like to identify.

I lived for a decade near 9th avenue just one long block away from the projects were Whoopi grew up. My partner was a Jewish man of Polish descent. We went to synagogue together, danced at Jewish social events together, and socialized with many Jewish friends. Not only did I learn that Reform Judaism is very LGBTQ-friendly, I learned a lot about how Jewish people identify.

One thing I learned was not to call Jewish people members of a race. I would quickly be corrected if I did that and told the Jewish people are instead members of an ethno-religious heritage. I remember many long conversations about the difference. It wasn’t my place to argue, just to listen and understand what people were telling me.

I understand how Whoopi’s comments on The View could be taken to be insensitive, but based on how Jewish people tell me they like to identify, I can see myself making a similar kind of remark.

That remark would not be any kind of bad faith anti-semitism, but instead of recognition of how Jewish people themselves talk about their own identity.