Is Whoopi Goldberg Jewish? No. Caren / Caryn Elaine Johnson family tree, ancestry, ethnicity, The View by Mary Cummins

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Recent controversy has arisen regarding actor, comedian, television host  Whoopi Goldberg aka Caryn / Caren Elaine Johnson, Judaism and possible antisemitism. I believed her when she stated she was Jewish many years ago. While doing her family tree a few years ago I did not discover any Jewish roots or ancestors. More recently it was discovered that her use of the "Goldberg" name was more of a joke so I wrote it off as such.

*Only public information is posted here. Full birth dates of living people are not posted. Only full birth and death dates of dead people are posted. 

Whoopi was born Caren** Elaine Johnson in 1955 in New York City. Her parents were Robert James Johnson Jr 1926-1993 and Emma J Harris 1931 -2010. She had a brother Clyde K Johnson 1949-2015. She's been married three times to Alvin Martin 1952-2006, David Edward Claessen 1959 from the Netherlands and Lyle Trachtenberg. With Alvin Martin she has a daughter Alexandria Martin. Below is her family tree pedigree version. I'll update the tree and post an updated image later when I can finally get to my computer and files. 

This was just added to Wikipedia. I'll try to find the January 2009 Louis Gates show "African American Lives" on Whoopi. 

"Researcher Henry Louis Gates Jr. found that all of Goldberg's traceable ancestors were African Americans, that she had no known German or Jewish ancestry, and that none of her ancestors were named Goldberg.[13] Results of a DNA test, revealed in the 2006 PBS documentary African American Lives, traced part of her ancestry to the Papel and Bayote people of modern-day Guinea-Bissau. Her admixture test indicates that she is of 92 percent sub-Saharan African origin and of 8 percent European origin."

**Here is Caren Johnson's birth certificate. She was not born Caryn. This is for all the people sending in comments saying she was born "Caryn." Clearly "Whoopi" likes to change her name and tell stories. 

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Here is Whoopi Goldberg's marriage certificate to Alvin Martin. She was not married as Caryn to Martin.

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Below is Whoopi Goldberg aka Caren Johnson's family tree pedigree version. 1978, 1980 while living in San Diego Whoopi went by Caryn Johnson. She stated she was a single mother working with the San Diego Repertory Theater. I see no name change in San Diego County. I'll try NoCal then LA. 

April 29, 1990 interview "The Signal," Santa Clarita, California, Whoopi was asked, "How did you come to change your name from Karen Johnson to Whoopi Goldberg?" Whoopi replied, "God gave it to me. I was standing in the garden and a burning bush said that perhaps "Karen Johnson was not the way to go." Actually when I got nervous on stage I make a spitting noise like a whoopie cushion. For a while I went by that name but my mom said going by Whoopie Cushion was not a good career move, so I ended up taking my mother's maiden name, Goldberg."

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Whoopi's entire family came from the south. I see no Jewish ancestors or blood relatives. I see no evidence that Whoopi converted or practiced Judaism. Her father was a Baptist Rev.

I saw what Whoopi said about the Jews and Hitler on The View. Yes, Jews have light skin but they're not "white." Hitler thought Jews were "an inferior race." Hitler was a white supremacist who was racist against Jews. That is why he killed them. 

I didn't see Whoopi's jokes against Jewish American Princesses (JAPs). I grew up in Beverly Hills and most of my friends were Jewish. I heard all the JAP jokes way back in the day. I haven't heard them in a long time. 

I don't agree with what Whoopi said about Jews or JAPs. I think it's wrong for her to have stated that she was Jewish when she's not. I don't know if she's antisemitic but what she said was wrong and beyond concerning. 

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