NPR Fires Juan Williams After O'Reilly Appearance

[DBruleU]

Bigot? You make the call...gotta agree with him here. I was flying back to Denver from DC a year ago and some dude decked out in his Muslim garb sat right across the row from me and I thought the same thing. Hope he's not here to blow us all up.

I have to say that I really like Juan Williams actually. I may not agree with everything he says, but of all the liberals I see on TV, he is consistently level headed and fair to his conservative counterparts. Respectful of those he disagrees with. He's not just a loud mouth like you see so much on MSNBC and...around here.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...ly-appearance/

National Public Radio fired Fox News contributor Juan Williams on Wednesday after a Monday night appearance in which Williams said that it makes him nervous to fly on airplanes with devout Muslims.

Williams was terminated following a discussion with "O'Reilly Factor" host Bill O'Reilly on the dilemma between fighting jihadists and fears about average Muslims.

"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," Williams said.

"But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous," Williams said.

Williams also commented on remarks by Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad warning Americans that the fight is coming to the U.S.

This undated photo released by SeniorNet shows NPR news analyst Juan Williams. NPR News says that it has terminated the contract of Williams after remarks he made about Muslims on The O'Reilly Factor. (AP)

This undated photo released by SeniorNet shows NPR news analyst Juan Williams. NPR News says that it has terminated the contract of Williams after remarks he made about Muslims on The O'Reilly Factor. (AP)

"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," Williams said.

NPR issued a statement saying that it was "terminating" Williams' contract over the remarks.

"Tonight we gave Juan Williams notice that we are terminating his contract as a senior news analyst for NPR News," CEO Vivian Schiller and Senior Vice President for News Ellen Weiss said in a statement.

"Juan has been a valuable contributor to NPR and public radio for many years and we did not make this decision lightly or without regret. However, his remarks on 'The O'Reilly Factor' this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," they said. "We regret these circumstances and thank Juan Williams for his many years of service to NPR and public radio."

Williams said Thursday he wasn't given the chance to have a face-to-face conversation with his superiors at NPR before he was let go.

Recalling a conversation with NPR's head of news, Williams said he was told, "This has been decided up the chain."

"I said, 'I don't even get the chance to come in and we do this eyeball to eyeball, person to person and have a conversation. I've been there more than 10 years. We don't have a chance to have a conversation about this.' And she said, 'There's nothing you can say that will change my mind. This has been decided above me and we're terminating your contract,'" Williams recounted to Fox News.

Williams said that he meant exactly what he said about his fears during his appearance on O'Reilly's show.

"I do a double take. I have a moment of anxiety of fear given what happened on 9/11. That's just a reality," he said, noting that when he told his former boss, she suggested that Williams had made a bigoted statement.

"It's not a bigoted statement. In fact, in the course of this conversation with Bill O'Reilly, I said we have an obligation as Americans to be careful to protect the constitutional rights of everyone in our country and to make sure that we don't have any outbreak of bigotry. but that there's a reality. You can not ignore what happened on 9/11 and you cannot ignore the connection to Islamic radicalism, and you can't ignore the fact of what has even recently been said in court with regard to this is the first drop of blood in a Muslim war in America."

Watch Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" at 8 pm ET Thursday night for an interview with Juan Williams.

The conversation on O'Reilly's show stemmed from a well-publicized argument the previous week between O'Reilly and "The View" hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, who walked off their own set when O'Reilly said, "Muslims killed us on 9/11."

The comment had been an explanation by O'Reilly why the majority of Americans don't want a mosque housed in an Islamic cultural center built near Ground Zero.

The women, who argued that Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh wasn't a Muslim, returned after O'Reilly said that he was -- perhaps inartfully -- talking about Muslim extremists.

The conversation has been fodder for both shows. Goldberg appeared Wednesday night on "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren," and said when she cursed at O'Reilly on air -- a word that was bleeped for broadcast -- she knew she was beyond reason and had to leave.

"He wasn't thoughtful and he knew he wasn't thoughtful and once he said, 'if I offended someone I apologize' ... it showed me that he recognized it," she said.

"But he knew that for us it was not ok. ... He got what he wanted and I don't feel bad about doing it. Should I have sat and just bit my tongue? I don't think I could because it was too much like all the things I heard about black folks and women," Goldberg said, adding that she has no hard feelings and planned to appear on O'Reilly's show in a few weeks..

Williams, a liberal African American commentator who has written extensively on civil rights in America, previously got in trouble with NPR for comments he made while appearing on "The O'Reilly Factor" in February 2009. At that time, he described first lady Michelle Obama as having a "Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress thing going."

Carmichael was a black activist in the 1960s who coined the phrase "Black Power."

After the Carmichael quote, Williams' position at NPR was changed from staff correspondent to national analyst.

[peacepipe]

good riddance to bad rubbish.

[TDmvp]

It's the new America , free speech is dead and buried right next to hope and and change...

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

To bad Faux doesn't follow suit and fire Bill O'Liely.

[BroncoLifer]

Too bad that even one penny of my taxes goes to that POS outfit.

[Requiem]

I feel nervous walking into federal buildings with white males.

[JJJ]

Originally Posted by Requiem

I feel nervous walking into federal buildings with white males.

If you had a job someone would probably fire you for that statement.

[Requiem]

Originally Posted by JJJ

If you had a job someone would probably fire you for that statement.

Depends on if they heard it or not, right?

[Jay3]

NPR just can't stand Juan for giving top-cover to Fox. The Left wants to be able to say they won't let anybody on the network but right-wingers, and they hate it that so many lefty examples prove them wrong.

So they used this incident as a pretext to give him the firing they already wanted to give.

[Rigs11]

What a crock, you guys standing up for this moron and his bigotry are idiots. As if a terrorist that is carrying out an attack is actually going to be wearing muslim garb. gee do you think that 911 bombers were wearing muslim garb when they boarded those planes?At least fbrule had the balls to admit that he is a racist.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Rigs11

What a crock, you guys standing up for this moron and his bigotry are idiots. As if a terrorist that is carrying out an attack is actually going to be wearing muslim garb. gee do you think that 911 bombers were wearing muslim garb when they boarded those planes?At least fbrule had the balls to admit that he is a racist.

I dont care how racist Williams statement was , He shouldnt have been fired , specially in that format , where you are encouraged to give your opinion ....
This firing is wrong , It is still a right in this country to be an a-hole ....

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Jay3

NPR just can't stand Juan for giving top-cover to Fox. The Left wants to be able to say they won't let anybody on the network but right-wingers, and they hate it that so many lefty examples prove them wrong.

So they used this incident as a pretext to give him the firing they already wanted to give.

you drunk ? ........ Has nothing to do with the bull**** you just posted , I would ask for proof , but we both know you are talking out of your ass here . he got shiat canned for not being politically correct ...... One of the down sides to being a Dem ...... Like if you see a retard posting , the left frowns when you tell the retard he is bein retarded ..........

[Rigs11]

Originally Posted by Spider

I dont care how racist Williams statement was , He shouldnt have been fired , specially in that format , where you are encouraged to give your opinion ....
This firing is wrong , It is still a right in this country to be an a-hole ....

yep just as much as it is NPR's right to fire him for making incendiary remarks.

[JJJ]

Originally Posted by Spider

I dont care how racist Williams statement was , He shouldnt have been fired , specially in that format , where you are encouraged to give your opinion ....
This firing is wrong , It is still a right in this country to be an a-hole ....

And the b**** fired him on the phone. What a class organization that is.

[barryr]

Oh no, he said something bad about muslims. Oh the humanity. Now that he is the "enemy" of the liberals, now we'll see racist comments stated about him. Typical of liberals.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by barryr

Oh no, he said something bad about muslims.

What if he had said something bad about blacks?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by DBruleU

I have to say that I really like Juan Williams actually. I may not agree with everything he says, but of all the liberals I see on TV, he is consistently level headed and fair to his conservative counterparts. Respectful of those he disagrees with. He's not just a loud mouth like you see so much on MSNBC and...around here.

There you go expecting respect you haven't earned again.

Talk about a sense of entitlement!

[Rigs11]

barry obviously can't comprehend that muslims live here too.pathetic little mind.

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

What if he had said something bad about blacks?

Your analogy highlights the problem with thinking of Muslims as a "race." It's not. It's a worldview, a way of belief and thinking. 1.5 billion in the world.

If you can't something about "Muslims" then all freedom of thought it gone.

And I don't care who tries to make the analogy to the use of the word "Christians," any type of generalizations about Christians would be allowed. You could say "Christians are responsible for more bloodshed than anyone else" on any show, and nobody would even blink.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Jay3

Your analogy highlights the problem with thinking of Muslims as a "race." It's not.

That's correct - but that wasn't the question.

The question is whether or not it's appropriate to make generalizations of this nature about a group of people based on religious beliefs (any religious belief.)

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

The question is whether or not it's appropriate to make generalizations of this nature about a group of people based on religious beliefs (any religious belief.)

You could have asked that question. Instead, you raised the thought that is was analogous to generalizing about race.

Don't get me wrong, that's what everybody is doing. That's the flaw I see. It's not the same thing at all.

(Doesn't mean that a particular generalization is valid or useful or nice. But it's not the same thing as being racist or bigoted).

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Rigs11

yep just as much as it is NPR's right to fire him for making incendiary remarks.

did he do it on their air ways ?

[Spider]

Originally Posted by JJJ

And the b**** fired him on the phone. What a class organization that is.

meh , dont really matter , how they fired his ass ........

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Jay3

But it's not the same thing as being racist or bigoted.

Actually, it is:

bigoted

- 2 dictionary results
big·ot·ed
   /ˈbɪgətɪd/ Show Spelled[big-uh-tid] Show IPA
–adjective
utterly intolerant of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.

Origin:
1635–45; bigot + -ed3

—Related forms
big·ot·ed·ly, adverb
non·big·ot·ed, adjective
non·big·ot·ed·ly, adverb
un·big·ot·ed, adjective

—Synonyms
See intolerant.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Jay3

You could have asked that question. Instead, you raised the thought that is was analogous to generalizing about race.

Don't get me wrong, that's what everybody is doing. That's the flaw I see. It's not the same thing at all.

What practical difference does the basis (e.g., race, creed, gender, age, nationality, etc.) for the generalization make?