Juan Williams

I had just finished typing a post about National Public Radio when I began to hear news about the firing of Juan Williams.

I am no expert on Juan Williams. I became aware of him because he was the regular host of National Public Radio’s afternoon call-in program, “Talk of the Nation”. For a long time, I knew him only from the radio, but I enjoyed and respected him. Later, I occasionally saw him on television.

According to published reports, Juan Williams was fired from NPR after making some statements during a discussion about terrorism on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News Channel. Specifically, he is quoted as saying, “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." This was just one excerpt from a much longer discussion, but it seems to be the crucial part in terms of his firing.

However, since the firing, I have been hearing and reading that Juan Williams has been in trouble with NPR for quite some time. According to The Washington Post: “NPR officials say they have repeatedly told Williams that some of his statements on Fox violate NPR's ground rules for its news analysts. The rules ban NPR analysts from making speculative statements or rendering opinions on TV that would be deemed unacceptable if uttered on an NPR program. The policy has some gray areas, they acknowledged, but it generally prohibits personal attacks or statements that negatively characterize broad groups of people, such as Muslims.”

The same Washington Post article notes that Williams states that his specific contract with NPR exempted him from some of these rules governing other NPR employees.

I personally am slightly -- but only slightly -- conflicted on this complicated issue. In general, I tend to believe an employer can make any rules they want, and the employee has the option of following those rules or finding another job. In this case, though, the rules themselves seem wrong, whether or not Juan Williams was bound by them -- especially since this is National PUBLIC Radio. More importantly, it is an oversimplification to claim that Williams actually made a personal attack or a statement that negatively characterized a broad group of people.

The TRUTH -- which is complicated -- is that rather than attacking or criticizing Muslims, Williams was confessing one of his own failings. He was stating one of his inner feelings; a secret, possibly irrational fear of which he was not necessarily proud. He did NOT say “Muslims are terrorists” or “Muslims are bad” or even “Muslims should not be allowed on planes”. If anything, he was attacking and criticizing HIMSELF.

The thing that puzzles me MOST about this issue is that there seem to be some thoughtful, rational, intelligent people who support the firing. This makes me wonder whether there is some aspect of the issue that I am failing to see or consider.

For now, though, I am deeply troubled by the firing of Juan Williams from NPR. Here is MY confession: Since the firing of Juan Williams, I have been listening much less to National Public Radio, on a fairly conscious level. I suppose it is some sort of protest, but I do not know what I am thinking I am accomplishing.

Truth is complicated.