Weekend Edition
October 29 - 31, 2010
Admit Your Prejudice
"Man Up," Juan Williams
By RANNIE AMIRI
“Prejudice squints when it looks and lies when it talks.” – Duchess d’Abrantès
"....Prejudice is insidious....Last week, National Public Radio (NPR) severed the contract of its longtime news analyst Juan Williams after he appeared on Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor and said the following:
“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. 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....”
"...In a statement, NPR said Williams’ remarks “ … were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”....Williams retorted that the real reason for his termination was because “I appear on Fox” and “I’m not a predictable, black liberal.”...Far more important than these matters are the essence of his comments, for they illustrate how commonplace bigoted, preconceived notions of Muslims have become. The instinctive suspicion Williams voiced about Muslims is undoubtedly immersed in stereotypes and caricature, conflating culture, nationality and religion....What exactly is “Muslim garb”? Is there a unifying dress code of more than one billion Muslims of every race and ethnicity? Is it the hijab, or headscarf, worn by observant Muslim women, albeit in different forms, colors and styles depending on one’s country of origin? Is it the kufi cap worn by some, but certainly not most, Muslim men?..."
Read the Entire Article @:
http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri10292010.html