DiversityInc readers responded to a controversial topic: Juan Williams was fired from his job as an NPR news analyst after he made a remark about Muslims. Is he a bigot or was he just being honest? The White Guy responded here. NPR has apologized for the way it handled the situation, although it says the decision was the right one.

Want to weigh in? Submit your comment at the bottom of the original article.

Read these edited comments from DiversityInc readers on the subject:

Comment: Luke, kudos to you for pointing out how Vivian Schiller’s rationale for firing Mr. Williams doesn’t hold any water. I listen to NPR daily (I have since college) and am also a frequent FOX News viewer and have enjoyed Mr. Williams on both stations for many years. While I disagree with Juan on many issues (I am a libertarian/conservative) I have always respected both his deeply held convictions and his civility toward those who do not share his beliefs. If more people on both the right and the left exhibited Juan’s willingness to have a respectful and productive dialogue with those on the other side rather than resorting to partisan demagoguery, we would probably be able to accomplish much more as a nation. Nor do I think Juan Williams is a bigot. He was expressing what he recognized as his own prejudices. Very similar to Jesse Jackson saying that it is painful for him to “walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.” Without a frank, open and honest discussion of these types of prejudices and what causes them, they fester. Nine years after 9/11 amid escalating tensions surrounding Islam in America (the mosque near ground zero, the FL pastor who threatened to burn the Quran, etc.) we are overdue to have this dialogue as a nation. Ignoring something does not make it go away.

Comment: I never watch FOX and it surprised me to see Juan Williams in there. I understand where Williams was coming from. Flying back from Europe I saw a very large group traveling to Mecca for the Hajj and I mentally was relieved they weren’t on my flight. I made the automatic association of Muslim garb and suicide bombers.

Comment: The media does have a responsibility to maintain objectivity. When human nature or politics takes individual reporters away from that standard, it is to our collective disadvantage. The further the media removes itself from objectivity, the more disadvantaged we become as a society. We lose our ability to make informed judgments and instead swing from hyperbole to hysteria at the whim of whatever network we watch. When one watches ideologues like Limbaugh or even Jon Stewart, we must expect that objectivity is sacrificed at the expense of ratings and entertainment, but it is to our shame that we don’t demand more objectivity from our mainstream press. Williams’ comment was a reflection of his feelings. And, his feelings show his prejudice. Why should anyone be upset simply because someone chooses to honor a religious custom in their dress? What if he’d said he gets nervous if someone is wearing a yarmulke or bindi? His remark is only seen as tolerable because it plays into the mass hysteria and orchestrated distrust of Muslims. To tolerate it is to condone the message that Muslim dress alone is sufficient cause to distrust an individual, and that prejudice is acceptable—as long as it’s the way you feel.

Comment: It was a racist remark. You can sugar coat it all you want, it was a racist remark. He was condemning an entire race for the actions of a few. Just like it is done against Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. We’re in the 21st century technology wise, but many people’s minds are still stuck and concreted in the racist days of the 17th–20th century. Sad, because as long as this continues, America will continue to be a backwards nation. It’s too bad that with all the technology that we have, we still can’t get rid of racism and bigotry.

Comment: He is a bigot. I can’t believe a person of color would talk that way. Clearly it’s all about the money. Hate seems to be the cool thing now. No-bullying policies that we as a society want should apply to all its citizens. Any news network that supports a particular candidate or speaks hate speech on air should be given a monetary fine. I applaud for NPR having standards which very few news agencies have. All civil society should be on the same page … no bullying … no hate speech … it has to stop … it is destroying the core of our American values.

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Luke Visconti’s Ask the White Guy column is a top draw on DiversityInc.com. Visconti, the founder and CEO of DiversityInc, is a nationally recognized leader in diversity management. In his popular column, readers who ask Visconti tough questions about race/culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age can expect smart, direct and disarmingly frank answers.

Question:
Curious: Had Juan said something to the effect that he’s aware that some people cross the street when they see a group of Black people walking along, I don’t think he would have been fired. In this case, he’s speaking of a stereotype that sadly resonates in 2010.

On the other hand, was Williams simply being honest? Does it make him a bigot instantly for his feelings on being on a plane with Muslims?

Answer:
For those of you who don’t know, Juan Williams was fired from NPR for comments he made on Bill O’Reilly’s show on FOX News. O’Reilly had been under fire for making comments about 9/11 on ABC’s “The View” and Williams tried to help his coworker (Williams is also paid by FOX) by saying, “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.”

He was subsequently fired from NPR, and NPR CEO Vivian Schiller gave her reason—this quote is from an article on NPR’s website: “As a reporter, as a host, as a news analyst, you do not comment on stories.”

Schiller said such restraint was a vital part of NPR’s code of ethics, which states that news staffers cannot say things in other public forums that they could not say on NPR’s airwaves as well. “Certainly you have opinions—all human beings have their personal opinions,” Schiller said. “But it is the ideal of journalism that we strive for objectivity so we can best present the positions of people around all parts of the debate to our public so the public can make their own decisions about these issues.”

I think Vivian Schiller has a real problem: In the eyes of the public, the press has moved on from this concept of “objectivity” in the mainstream press. No human being can be objective, and in the overwhelming majority of content created, “journalism” has only had the veneer of objectivism, not the substance of it. In addition, the line between “news” and “entertainment” is gone in the minds of almost all consumers. Indeed, the majority of NPR’s content isn’t objective. What’s objective about Michel Martin’s show? Or Diane Rehm? I think both women are very fair, but they’re not objective—and I wouldn’t listen to almost every one of their shows if they were (love those podcasts). Further, what’s completely objective about The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal? Not much, but I read both. I even subscribe to the website of the bloated provocateur-propagandist, Rush Limbaugh.

The process of diversity management is to stop “objectifying” people and start viewing them as individuals. I don’t think Juan Williams should have been fired. Perhaps he is a bigot (don’t know him well enough to decide), but what he said is certainly bigoted and ignorant. I think he certainly needs to get to know some of the world’s 1.57 billion Muslim people.

But here’s the thing: NPR knew Williams was a rising star at FOX News—and you go to FOX for what? Enlightened dialogue? Reasonable discourse? Intelligent conversation? Please. Feeding fearful people more stuff to scare them and whipping up xenophobia is their trade. Williams’ comments about Muslims fit right in.

If NPR’s CEO said “Juan Williams has persistent problems, he’s alienating our core audience, he doesn’t reflect our values and we just don’t have a place for him anymore,” she would have been on more solid ground.

Given her comments, I don’t think he should have been fired. Is he a bigot? Time will tell.

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