Whoopi Goldberg suggested on Monday that nothing would ever truly change with regard to police brutality until officers started beating white people.
Goldberg made the comments during a discussion about the death of Tyre Nichols on Monday’s broadcast of ABC’s midday talk show “The View,” arguing that people only seemed to care about police brutality when they could personally identify with the victims — and suggesting that some people might not ever care unless police officers attacked white people.
WATCH:
Claiming she's "not suggesting that," Whoopi suggests white people need to be beaten by police before reforms will happen.
"Do you we need to see white people also get beat before anybody will do anything? … Don't write us and tell me what a racist I am." pic.twitter.com/dTJ72C6dTv— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 30, 2023
“If it is a black policeman or a white policeman, it is a problem in policing itself, you know,” Goldberg said, adding, “Seems things don’t seem to make sense to people unless it’s somebody they can feel, or they can recognize — but how many times do we have to see — do we need to see white people also get beaten before anybody will do anything?”
“I’m not suggesting that, so don’t write us and tell me what a — you know, what a racist I am,” Goldberg continued. “I’m just asking, is that what people have to see in order to wake up and realize this affects us all?”
Cohost Sunny Hostin weighed in then, arguing that police departments got far too much funding and claiming that the money could be better spent on fighting homelessness or assisting people with mental health resources.
Whoopi says police departments need to get a "sense of humanity."
"Is it just because folks have dehumanized us and made us like kind of monsters?"
She claims "that other side on television," says black people "have no humanity" and "murder" is the first thing cops think to do. pic.twitter.com/wz2bAvcYaq— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 30, 2023
Goldberg jumped back in, saying that the real problem that police departments lacked “humanity.”
“Is it just because folks have dehumanized us and made us like some kind of monsters?” Goldberg asked. “I listen to that other side on television and they talk about us like we have no humanity.”
She went on to suggest that police officers had murder on their minds when they initiated traffic stops, adding, “Maybe it’s a traffic stop for a lady who’s smoking in her car and you don’t understand why she doesn’t want you in her face but you kill her and everybody goes, ‘Oh, that’s really sad.'”
“I’m sick of this,” Goldberg concluded. “You should be sick of this. Are we? Then make sure that when you have the opportunity to make the changes that need to be made, make them! Don’t sit around and do — just talk about them — let’s get something done.”