by Bob Schmidt

Created on: October 21, 2010

Outrage should be the reaction to Juan Williams being fired by NPR. The ten year veteran of NPR, highly respected author of civil rights books, and veteran journalist was accused of being a bigot for remarks made on a Fox News program. His remarks? He commented that he personally sometimes felt uncomfortable getting on an airplane with passengers dressed in Muslim-style garb. His fears stem from the twin towers attack of 9/11, and are probably common fears of many Americans. 

The reaction within the broadcast media community is likely to be heavily supportive of Mr. Williams' personal right to express his private feelings, especially from another platform than that of NPR. Gov. Mike Huckabee, a colleague of Juan Williams at Fox News, commented that Juan's first amendment rights had been violated. In a news interview on Fox News, Newt Gingrich emphatically agreed with Huckabee. 

There are a couple of questions that this action brings to mind. What is a bigot? And, why was Mr. Williams fired without being given an opportunity to defend his remarks? The actual truth as to what is really going on is the clash between political correctness and speaking realistically about controversial subjects. 

As to bigotry, it usually speaks to being intolerant of other ethnic or racial groups than ones own. Anyone intolerant to the ideas of others might also be considered a bigot. In the conversation between Bill O'Reilly and Juan Williams, Williams remarked that he sometimes felt discomfort on airplanes with people wearing Muslim garb, thereby identifying their allegiance to Islam. 

The actual comments from Mr. Williams sounded like an honest man expressing a valid fear. They did not sound like bigotry in any traditional sense. To listen to his actual comments, please access this site: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101021/cm_ybl og_upshot/npr-fires-juan-williams-for-muslim-remarks -on-fox. 

There is another aspect to this hasty decision to punish Juan Williams for not being politically correct with his remarks. Aside from the obvious, that he has championed the issues of racial discrimination, National Public Radio is partially funded by the federal government. Approximately 15% of their budget comes from US taxpayers. So, who actually issued the order that Williams should be fired? 

At least in theory, politics should not be part of the equation. However, Mr. Williams has apparently come under fire in recent years for appearing on the

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