Juan Williams fired from NPR

[30ashopper]

washingtonpost.com

I respect Williams quite a bit, and enjoy his counter points on a number of commentary shows on Fox. He sort of put his foot in his mouth, but he was just being honest, and he was on a commentary show when he said it. Call me a conspirist, but I think NPR was just looking for an excuse. Their loss I guess.

 

[Andy A]

washingtonpost.com

I respect Williams quite a bit, and enjoy his counter points on a number of commentary shows on Fox. He sort of put his foot in his mouth, but he was just being honest, and he was on a commentary show when he said it. Call me a conspirist, but I think NPR was just looking for an excuse. Their loss I guess.

I will make sure that I never give them another red cent in donations. Talk about the height of arrogance this about takes the cake. It is true. I called NPR to confirm it and left them a good piece ot my mind. Why any fair minded, non committal network, especially one operating on public money, would fire an employee over a personal opinion expressed on another network, is beyond my comprehension. It only shows how biased our mainstream media has become and how unbelievable they now are due to such bias.
I am anything but a Juan Williams fan but I feel really sorry for him and this country when he cannot express his opinion and feelings when asked and loses his job for it. It should be a wake up call for all Americans as to what is really going on in this country.

 

[Mango]

I wonder how Williams would have felt if O'Reilly said that he felt nervous in elevators alone with African Americans? Just saying......

 

[30ashopper]

I wonder how Williams would have felt if O'Reilly said that he felt nervous in elevators alone with African Americans? Just saying......

Wasn't he was referring to a form of dress, rather than a race? I agree there are racial overtones, but technically he wasn't making a racial statement.

 

[AlphaCrab]

Wasn't he was referring to a form of dress, rather than a race? I agree there are racial overtones, but technically he wasn't making a racial statement.

I think I have to agree here. I have NPR for Breakfast and Lunch (and MSNBC for Dinner), but I really think they were wrong in this instance. I just made a call to NPR to complain.

 

[LuciferSam]

I think maybe NPR was wrong, but I find it surprising that in this day and age with heightened security that people dressed in Muslim garb at the airport would be enough to cause somebody as well informed as Mr. Williams to be frightened. Still, if he wants to proclaim his phobias and hangups to the world, he should be able to. [Edit] Correction. Juan said he's get nervous when on "airplanes". That's even weirder. By the time you are on an airplane, everybody has gone through all kinds of security checks. By that time I'm more disturbed by a baby crying, which is an accurate description of Juan Williams.

 

[Mango]

Wasn't he was referring to a form of dress, rather than a race? I agree there are racial overtones, but technically he wasn't making a racial statement.

I meant to say an African American with his pants on the ground, but got sidetracked. That's a form of dress that to some could denote a slacker, bum, gang,...whatever you want to classify someone's dress code. But, AA aren't the only one's who wear those clothes, but a majority are AA. Yes, you would be right that it wasn't totally racial, but had someone made the comment above about AA, I wonder how he would have reacted.

NPR may have gone too far in firing him, he might have issued an apology, but Islamphobia is prevalent right now and he didn't help the situation.

 

[Andy A]

What exactly is Islamphobia? Is it being aware that enemies of your country come from a certain culture? I'm sorry but I'm of the strong belief in what one former President said. "Speak softly but carry a big stick". There is certainly nothing remiss in being totally aware of what is going on around you and you are not some kind of activist if you do so.

 

[30ashopper]

In general this would be a non-issue if NPR wasn't receiving federal funds. They have a number of grants, endowments, and regularly received funding from individuals and stations that air their content. I think it's time we finally cut them loose, let them go private. They aren't hurting for cash. The federal government should not be funding a national news organization, there's an obvious conflict of interest there.

 

[idlewind]

This is a perfect example of political correctness and how it is running rampant over our constitutional rights. If you give an honest opinion or an honest answer these days you run a great risk of being castigated and blackballed. I for one admit that when I see arabs on a plane I get a momentary nervous reaction. That is human nature. I also admit to the same reaction when I see blacks with gang garb on or bearded white men with motorcycle gang colors showing. We all have these triggers. IMHO it only becomes bigotry and thus wrong when you act on those triggers with no further evidence of danger or a reason for concern. I am no fan of Juan Williams but I heard the comment live and did not think anything about it. I was more concerned with his other comments that tend to excuse the left for their behavior. While he was bitten by the same bug he has defended, I still feel bad for him and think it is crazy that he lost his job for making an honest comment.