NPR Fires Juan Williams Over Anti-Muslim Comments

NPR finally realized that Juan Williams, who moonlights as a FOX News paid polemicist, is an embarrassment to the objective professional journalistic standards NPR holds itself to. NPR's decision to fire him was justified in that Juan's controversial comments about Muslims at large on the O'Reilly Factor amounted to little more than pure prejudice anyway you look at it. Even if they were honest, they were honestly prejudiced and ignorant.

By implying that he is somehow justified in feeling "nervous" when he sees an average Muslim on a plane who identifies as Muslim, he is in effect equating all Muslims with terrorists and sanctioning bigotry and prejudice. He was basically saying that a Muslim is scary and threatening by virtue of being Muslim (not by virtue of bad behavior).

One wonders, does Juan Williams also justify white women clutching their purses when they see a black man enter an elevator, just because he's black?

Juan Williams's "fear and nervousness" towards average Muslims is the result of his closed-mindedness and limited horizons; he does not belong with NPR, a respectable news services that seeks objectivity and that caters to a discerning audience.

UPDATE: I saw that there are people debating whether Juan Williams' statements were bigotted. So let me ask you, if Mr. Juan Williams or another NPR senior editor is running around national TV telling people "I feel scared and anxious when I see a Jewish person, looking all Jewish in their Yarmulke and sideburns and identifying as a Jew first," or "I feel scared and anxious when I see a Black person, looking all Black with their afro and Fubu gear and identifying as a Black person first," don't you think the absurdity of those comments would be self-evident to all and we would not be having this conversation. EVEN if that person was genuine and honest and really feels this way and is just expressing an opinion.

That is because we as a society have learned - very well - that negative generalizations amounts to prejudice and that prejudice is ignorant and that people who feel this way need to seek help rather than pontificate on TV. But it seems some are still struggling to see Muslims in that same light due to being desensitized by constant Media vitriol that deems it "still ok" when it comes to Muslims.

Now let me be clear, Juan Williams has as much a right to be prejudiced and to openly share his prejudices just as much as anybody else. But in the same vein, NPR has a right to say thanks but no thanks, this breaches our trust of your character and judgment and our policy that our journalists should represent fact-based analysis not emotional, speculative ones.

NPR Fires Analyst Over Comments on Muslims

By BRIAN STELTER | New York Times

Published: October 20, 2010

NPR has terminated its contract with Juan Williams, one of its senior news analysts, after he made comments about Muslims on the Fox News Channel.

NPR said in a statement that it gave Mr. Williams notice of his termination on Wednesday night.

The move came after Mr. Williams, who is also a Fox News political analyst, appeared on the “The O’Reilly Factor” on Monday. On the show, the host, Bill O’Reilly, asked him to respond to the notion that the United States was facing a “Muslim dilemma.” Mr. O’Reilly said, “The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.”

Mr. Williams said he concurred with Mr. O’Reilly.

He continued: “I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. 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.”

Mr. Williams also made reference to the Pakistani immigrant who pleaded guilty this month to trying to plant a car bomb in Times Square. “He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts,” Mr. Williams said.

NPR said in its statement that the remarks “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”

The public radio organization said it thanked him for many years of service. Mr. Williams did not immediately respond on Wednesday night to an e-mail seeking comment.

Mr. Williams’s contributions on Fox raised eyebrows at NPR in the past. In February 2009, NPR said it had asked that he stop being identified on “The O’Reilly Factor” as a “senior correspondent for NPR,” even though that title was accurate.

Alicia C. Shepard, the NPR ombudswoman, said at the time that Mr. Williams was a “lightning rod” for the public radio organization in part because he “tends to speak one way on NPR and another on Fox.”

Ms. Shepard said she had received 378 listener e-mails in 2008 listing complaints and frustrations about Mr. Williams.