Juan Williams: Muslims On Planes Make Me 'Nervous' (VIDEO)

UPDATE: Williams has been fired by NPR for his comments on Fox News.

ORIGINAL POST: On Monday's "O'Reilly Factor," Fox News analyst Juan Williams told Bill O'Reilly that he supported his statement that "Muslims killed us on 9/11," and that he feels nervous when he sees Muslims on the same plane as him. (h/t Think Progress.)

O'Reilly's comment on "The View" last week caused Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set in anger, and, since then, the story has not gone away. O'Reilly covered the fallout from his appearance on both Friday's and Monday's shows, and he brought Williams on to discuss the incident.

WATCH:

O'Reilly asked Williams, "Where am I going wrong here, Juan?" Williams replied that thought O'Reilly was right.

"I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality," he said.

Then, Williams said that he gets nervous when he sees Muslims on planes:

"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."

Comments

[oldbaldy]

03:47 PM on 10/26/2010

Hey Juan,
When I get on a bus late at night and there are two black dudes on there, I get nervous and worried!! Am I a Bigot or just being cautious?

[Chris 54321]

12:16 PM on 10/25/2010

...well we are even - I get nervous when I see bigots -

[TheTwelveTwelveProphet]

10:43 AM on 10/25/2010

Juan, how do you know they are Muslims? It's a Faith not a feature.

[myainto]

07:10 AM on 10/25/2010

juan you are a coward and a bigot that you say you are not and confused are you scared of arabs in muslim clothing of muslims in arab clothing in both situations you are wrpng racism is racism no matter how much you rebrand it and i am sure you dont know this but in the middle-east those cloths you call or identify with muslims is worn by all even some christians wear them if i said a blackman is incapable of racism what am i implying here

[Haastnooit]

06:40 PM on 10/23/2010

I get worried and nervous all the time for all kinds of reasons.... I consider that to be my problem and my shortcoming and certainly not part of reality as we all know it or facts to be held in evidence against anyone. It's not just bigoted, it's self absorbed.

[caseyblab]

06:59 PM on 10/23/2010

Exactly.

[coblstone]

03:55 PM on 10/23/2010

he shouldn't feel nervous if he sees muslims on a plane. if their are muslims on a plane they passed the scrutiny of security to be there.

[BasilBanana]

11:09 AM on 10/23/2010

Hmmm...

Not judging, but if a major newsperson would to go on national media and say "you know, I get kind of nervous when I see a black person get into my subway car. I'm thinking I might get mugged." How would that go over with Mr Williams. How would it go over with the sponsors of the show.

The first amendment does not extend to your right to keep your job. You say something like this, you have to consider the media that has hired you is going to get flack from their sponsors, and you might be gone. That isn't taking away your first amendment, that's the wonderful "free market" that we here about so much from the right.

[Frank A33919]

12:18 PM on 10/23/2010

How about someone saying that he gets nervous when he hears footsteps behind him at night, but he turns around to see a white person and he relaxes? Jesse Jackson said that.

Fact of the matter is, you ARE judging. Furthermore, the whole problem here as I see it is that since Mr. Williams was treated differently from NPR's white employees a valid claim could be made for racism here. Defending racism is bigotry. Funding a racist entity such as NPR with taxpayer dollars is unconscionable. Granted, he has no right to a job, but he does have the reasonable expectation under law to be treated the same way as the NPR employee who - on air, no less - wished Jesse Helms would contract AIDS.....or the NPR employee who voiced the opinion that the elimination of 4 million Christians from the world would be a good thing. They still have their jobs, and it wasn't suggested that they see their psychiatrists either.

Maybe this isn't racism, just the new editorial tack from NPR since George Soros (that patriotic American) bought in. Hmm?

[TheBaffler]

05:39 AM on 10/24/2010

Actually, Williams has hypocritically taken issue with exactly the kind of race-based fear described by BasilBanana:

'In 1986, Juan Williams participated in a forum in The New Republic regarding a column by The Washington Post's Richard Cohen, who had justified the practice of D.C. jewelry store owners who would "admit customers only through a buzzer system, and [] some store owners use this system to exclude young black males on the grounds that these people are most likely to commit a robbery" (h/t). Defending this race-based exclusion, Cohen argued that "young black males commit an inordinate amount of urban crime," and that "black potential victims as well as white ones often act on this awareness, and that under certain circumstances, the mere recognition of race as a factor . . . is not in itself racism."

'Responding to Cohen's argument, Williams said: "In this situation and all others, common sense in my constant guard. Common sense becomes racism when skin color becomes a formula for figuring out who is a danger to me."'

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/10/22/muslims/index.html

[TOS100]

10:32 AM on 10/23/2010

When Williams says, "I'm not a bigot," he is only claiming that has nothing against black people, based on what he references as proof of his non-bigotry.

Maybe he believes that only black people can experience the negativity of bigotry.

This is a racist and uneducated position.

[R U Sirius]

10:18 AM on 10/23/2010

Interesting, Juan. I imagine there are some conservatives who get very nervous and cross the street when they see YOU on the sidewalk, too. I guess you've gotten too rich and self-satisfied to remember that.

[JWoodz]

12:08 AM on 10/23/2010

"Peter Bronson, You're Fired"

..."ohhh, that's how it connects...."

[harriettubman]

08:35 PM on 10/22/2010

And so do a lot of other people too Juan. They just hide it and pretend to be brave. Wars are one thing but after 9/11 they kept blowing up places around the globe, sending threats to everybody and his momma and people are afraid and can't differentiate good from bad. This is the the truth people. It's going to take a long time for people to feel safe again.

I think what made this even worse for innocent Mu s lims are the children and women who blew up our soldiers.

[caseyblab]

06:54 PM on 10/23/2010

Learn to deal with your fear- that was what OLD REAL AMERICA was, ie, not a bunch of fearful whiners that get full baby treatment at Fox. Geez.

[Riana Lynn]

05:17 PM on 10/22/2010

I think many people feel this way. Whether the media provokes it or not. It has died down since 9.11, but fear is steak being invoked.

[rodealer]

02:35 PM on 10/22/2010

Fear is irrational. I do not fear Flying but do fear Scuba Diving in the Ocean. It is not a something I can control. The only thing I can do is avoid Diving and do so. I also do things that some would say are crazy and do not fear but also avoid situations that cause me to be fearful. This appears to be one of Mr Williams fears. His only crime was admitting it. Many Americans do equate Muslims to Terrorists and do so because most but not all Terrorist Acts in the recent times have been carried out by Muslims and do irrationally fear them just as Millions Fear Flying. Not an emotion anyone can control.

[harriettubman]

08:36 PM on 10/22/2010

No, you don't fear flying but I'll tell you the first plane I flew on after 9/11, my stomach was in knots.

[caseyblab]

07:02 PM on 10/23/2010

Right, but a journalist is not paid to be afraid and tell us about it. He is paid for the facts. Everyone has irrational stuff but sticking your crap out there in this kind of political atmosphere is irresponsible and he knows that, for crying out loud. Would he feel OK yakking about how Jews make him upset? He is or was a professional.

[William Munny]

02:22 PM on 10/22/2010

I get nervous when I see Catholics parked near federal buildings.

[ivana22]

12:34 PM on 10/22/2010

Didn't Juan know that the terrorists that flew the planes into the towers were dressed in business suits, got haircuts and looked like business men? The last thing they wanted to do was look suspicious or (look like muslims) I thought Juan had an expanded knowledge of the events. I guess he learned the facts about of 9-11 from Bill'O the clown...

[harriettubman]

08:37 PM on 10/22/2010

But they ALL came from the Middle East. Especially Saudi Arabia!!!! There are training grounds for these people. We have to continue having dialogue & education to keep the innocent Muslims out of this rhetoric.