3 Whoopi Goldberg Quotes on Identity

Whoopi Goldberg quotes on identity

1. The name was a fluke. A joke. It started when I was doing A Christmas Carol in San Diego. We'd sit backstage and talk about names we'd never give our children, like Pork Pie or Independence. Of course, now people are walking around with those names. A woman said to me, 'If I was your mother, I would have called you Whoopi, because when you're unhappy you make a sound like a whoopee cushion. It sounds like a fart.' It was like 'Ha-ha-ha-ha-Whoopi!' So people actually started calling me Whoopi Cushion. After about a year, my mother said, 'You won't be taken seriously if you call yourself Whoopi Cushion. So try this combination: Whoopi Goldberg.'

2. Most of all, I dislike this idea nowadays that if you're a black person in America, then you must be called African-American. Listen, I've visited Africa, and I've got news for everyone: I'm not an African. The Africans know I'm not an African. I'm an American. This is my country. My people helped to build it and we've been here for centuries. Just call me black, if you want to call me anything.

5. I'm an artist; art has no color and no sex.