The producers of The View were sweating. What was Whoopi Goldberg going to say next? Here she was, the co-host of one of the most admiredThe show has received many awards and attracts around three million viewers. American chat shows, coming out with controversial comments about the most sensitive of all subjects - the Holocaust. They could think of only one answer: turn up the background music and move quickly on to a commercial break.

Goldberg was on a panel of five womenThe View is unusual among discussion programmes in being presented entirely by women. discussing the banning of a book in Tennessee schools. Art SpiegelmanThe cartoonist comes from a Polish Jewish family, 72 of whom died in the Holocaust, including his only brother.'s graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale tells the story of how his parents survived Auschwitz - but portrays Jewish people as mice and Germans as cats. It is widely regarded as a classic.

The book was banned by the McCinny County school boardThe body in charge of all the State schools in a particular area. because it contained "rough, objectionable language", and because it showed a mouse without any clothes on. One history teacher at the meeting argued that these were insignificant compared to the book's message - but was outvoted.

"I'm surprised that's what made you uncomfortable, the fact that there was some nudity," Goldberg said on the show. "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," she went on. "Because the Holocaust isn't about race... It's about man's inhumanity to man."

One of her co-hosts pointed out that the Nazis did regard Jews as a different race. Another reminded Goldberg that Gypsies and Roma were also racial targets of the Holocaust.

"But these are two white groups of people," Goldberg retorted. When another panellist observed that the Nazis didn't see Jews as white, Goldberg insisted: "You're missing the point! 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."

Her remarks prompted outrage on Twitter. One clip of the show quickly received over 1.5 million views. "Racism was central to Nazi ideologySet of beliefs.," said a tweet from the US Holocaust MuseumSituated in Washington DC, it was opened in 1993. More than 90% of the people who visit it are not Jewish., "Jews were not defined by religion, but by race. Nazi racist beliefs fuelled genocide and mass murder."

Others focused on her reference to "two white groups". The implication, they said, was that only Black people could be regarded as victims of racism. But her supporters argued that she had simply expressed herself badly in making a general point - that people should not be cruel to each other.

Goldberg later apologised. She added that she was grateful for the backlash because it had taught her valuable lessons. "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. The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waver. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused."

Meanwhile, the row over Maus continues. There have been widespread arguments in US schools about which books should or should not be studied - often centring on their treatment of race. Spiegelman called the banning of Maus "OrwellianIn George Orwell's novel 1984, one of the functions of the Ministry of Truth is to suppress books the government dislikes.".

Yes: Everyone knows that the Nazis tried to exterminate the Jews because they considered them an inferior race. Only someone with racist views of their own could pretend otherwise. Antisemitism is on the rise. Goldberg's words are not only offensive but potentially dangerous. 

No: Goldberg misspoke, but she should be given the chance to learn from her mistakes and correct them. To label her a racist does not fix the problem. Ignorance is one of the major reasons for growing anti-semitism. The answer is to educate - not to condemn. 

Or... What Goldberg said was wrong. But her point about man's inhumanity to man is true. The horrors of the Holocaust are a reminder of what humans are capable of doing - and of how we have to work to prevent it from happening again.