Veteran journalist and political analyst Juan Williams was fired by National Public Radio yesterday for making what they called “anti-Muslim” remarks.
In reality, Williams was merely expressing the sentiments of many Americans in this post-9/11 era when he said that he gets “worried” and “nervous” when he sees people dressed in Muslim-style clothing on airplanes.
Williams, 56, made the comments Monday on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor”.
Bill O’Reilly, who made news himself when he told the ladies of ‘The View’ that Muslims caused 9/11, 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.”
Williams, who is a frequent contributor to Fox News, agreed, and added:
“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,” he 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.”
In a statement released by NPR, the company said Williams’ comments “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”
NPR needs to get in touch with reality. All of a sudden it’s considered politically incorrect to express realistic fears now that we have a Muslim president in office?
