Juan Williams Fired From NPR For Muslim Comment National Public Radio terminated the contract it had with news analyst Juan Williams after he said on a Fox News show that he gets “nervous” when he sees people on planes in “Muslim garb.”
Williams made his comments to Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on Monday on the “O’Reilly Factor.”
“Look, Bill, I’m not a bigot,” Williams said on the program. “You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”
NPR issued a statement noting that Williams was a valuable contributor but that his remarks “undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”
Williams is an analyst and commentator with Fox News, which is owned by News Corp., publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
On a story posted on NPR’s web site, Williams declined to comment.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:54 pm Posts: 12287 Location: Manguetown Gender: Male
Green Habit wrote:
Definitely deserved to be canned for that one. What a horrible comment to say.
Not really horrible, Im quite sure that most westerns have thought that in the same situation. Actually I guess his comment made a lot of people angry by reminding them of something they did and are not really proud about.
_________________ There's just no mercy in your eyes There ain't no time to set things right And I'm afraid I've lost the fight I'm just a painful reminder Another day you leave behind
Definitely deserved to be canned for that one. What a horrible comment to say.
say or think?
Either?
so youre saying if you were walking down the street, and 5 very large and loud black guys were walking in your path and they were looking at you, you wouldnt be the slightest bit nervous?
i think its ok to be alarmed, you are just trying to be aware of your surroundings. its how you act towards your surroundings that makes it deplorable or not, least imo
Guys, the issue isn't whether what he said is correct. It's that one will get fired for candidly speaking one's mind, regardless of how politically incorrect those thoughts might be.
This only limits the scope of what is "permissible" to say in the mainstream media, reinforces the unfortunate public myth that muslims somehow pose a mortal danger to the security of America, and forces commentators to increasingly parse their words.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Peeps wrote:
so youre saying if you were walking down the street, and 5 very large and loud black guys were walking in your path and they were looking at you, you wouldnt be the slightest bit nervous?
i think its ok to be alarmed, you are just trying to be aware of your surroundings. its how you act towards your surroundings that makes it deplorable or not, least imo
The same would hold true if those dudes were white, Latino, Asian, Jewish, or whatever.
Perceiving someone to be a threat solely because you think they subscribe to a certain religion is bigoted, despite ol' Juan's attempt to qualify otherwise.
thodoks wrote:
Guys, the issue isn't whether what he said is correct. It's that one will get fired for candidly speaking one's mind, regardless of how politically incorrect those thoughts might be.
This only limits the scope of what is "permissible" to say in the mainstream media, reinforces the unfortunate public myth that muslims somehow pose a mortal danger to the security of America, and forces commentators to increasingly parse their words.
Well, NPR certainly has the right to decide what kind of opinions they want their commentators to associate their program with. Also, I don't see how it reinforces the myth. Juan tried to perpetuate it, and now he's paying a price for it.
Guys, the issue isn't whether what he said is correct. It's that one will get fired for candidly speaking one's mind, regardless of how politically incorrect those thoughts might be.
This only limits the scope of what is "permissible" to say in the mainstream media, reinforces the unfortunate public myth that muslims somehow pose a mortal danger to the security of America, and forces commentators to increasingly parse their words.
Well, NPR certainly has the right to decide what kind of opinions they want their commentators to associate their program with. Also, I don't see how it reinforces the myth. Juan tried to perpetuate it, and now he's paying a price for it.
Hmmmm. Maybe I should think this through a bit more thoroughly.
so youre saying if you were walking down the street, and 5 very large and loud black guys were walking in your path and they were looking at you, you wouldnt be the slightest bit nervous?
i think its ok to be alarmed, you are just trying to be aware of your surroundings. its how you act towards your surroundings that makes it deplorable or not, least imo
The same would hold true if those dudes were white, Latino, Asian, Jewish, or whatever.
Perceiving someone to be a threat solely because you think they subscribe to a certain religion is bigoted, despite ol' Juan's attempt to qualify otherwise.
so if anyone approached you who looked mean would make you nervous. so youre judging them based on how they look and not on their actions. hmmmm
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Peeps wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
Peeps wrote:
so youre saying if you were walking down the street, and 5 very large and loud black guys were walking in your path and they were looking at you, you wouldnt be the slightest bit nervous?
i think its ok to be alarmed, you are just trying to be aware of your surroundings. its how you act towards your surroundings that makes it deplorable or not, least imo
The same would hold true if those dudes were white, Latino, Asian, Jewish, or whatever.
Perceiving someone to be a threat solely because you think they subscribe to a certain religion is bigoted, despite ol' Juan's attempt to qualify otherwise.
so if anyone approached you who looked mean would make you nervous. so youre judging them based on how they look and not on their actions. hmmmm
Your example said they were looking at me. That's an action.
so youre saying if you were walking down the street, and 5 very large and loud black guys were walking in your path and they were looking at you, you wouldnt be the slightest bit nervous?
i think its ok to be alarmed, you are just trying to be aware of your surroundings. its how you act towards your surroundings that makes it deplorable or not, least imo
The same would hold true if those dudes were white, Latino, Asian, Jewish, or whatever.
Perceiving someone to be a threat solely because you think they subscribe to a certain religion is bigoted, despite ol' Juan's attempt to qualify otherwise.
so if anyone approached you who looked mean would make you nervous. so youre judging them based on how they look and not on their actions. hmmmm
Your example said they were looking at me. That's an action.
so you would be ok if the muslim dressed guy looked at juan and he said what he said?
Definitely deserved to be canned for that one. What a horrible comment to say.
say or think?
Either?
so youre saying if you were walking down the street, and 5 very large and loud black guys were walking in your path and they were looking at you, you wouldnt be the slightest bit nervous?
i think its ok to be alarmed, you are just trying to be aware of your surroundings. its how you act towards your surroundings that makes it deplorable or not, least imo
It's the age of said group that would determine my fear, regardless of skin color. Of course, this type of ageism is societally acceptable, so no one will hold it against me.
As far as what Juan said; I would bet a pound of flesh that every single person on this board, in his or her thoughts, has stereotyped an individual based on skin color. Even Green Habit. Even Kosmicjelli.
...so I'm going to hold off on the self-righteousness, at least for now.
_________________ For your sake I hope heaven and hell are really there but I wouldn't hold my breath
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Man in Black wrote:
As far as what Juan said; I would bet a pound of flesh that every single person on this board, in his or her thoughts, has stereotyped an individual based on skin color. Even Green Habit. Even Kosmicjelli.
...so I'm going to hold off on the self-righteousness, at least for now.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Were the 9-11 hijackers, the shoe bomber, or the Times Square bomber dressed like Muslims? Hell, they didn't even have beards.
If someone's wearing overtly Muslim garb, I figure you can take that as a sign that they're not going to do anything.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
Should we note the difference between a thought out opinion and an emotional response? Because seeing muslims on a plane making you feel nervous can be different from holding the belief, after giving it rational thought, that they are indeed terrorists.
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
We're talkin' O'Reilly Factor folks, need I say more? For shame, c'mon now! I think I just lost some respect for NPR now. But hey... conspiracy theory Bill O'Reilly planned it that way!
_________________ Last visit was: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm It is currently Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:43 am When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the World will know Peace. - Jimi Hendrix
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