To the Editor:
Re “One Comment, Two Takes at NPR and Fox” (Business Day, Oct. 22):
As a lifelong liberal, I am extremely distressed by NPR’s firing of Juan Williams for his remarks on “The O’Reilly Factor.” In context, Mr. Williams’s remarks were, I believe, an honest statement of feelings shared by many non-Muslim Americans (not just conservatives).
It was definitely not an assertion of the belief “that all airline passengers who are perceived to be Muslim can legitimately be viewed as security threats,” as the Council on American-Islamic Relations stated. In fact, Mr. Williams made just the opposite point in his response to Bill O’Reilly.
If we are to solve any of the interpersonal problems we have in this country, including the fears that some non-Muslims have of Muslims, we must begin by being honest about our feelings.
NPR’s action reflects an attitude of political correctness that makes such honesty impossible, thus contributing to the problem rather than helping to solve it.
It also provides ammunition to those conservatives who claim that because of a liberal bias NPR should not get any taxpayer money. Personally, I love NPR, and so am all the more dismayed that it has put itself in this position.
Jim George
Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct. 22, 2010
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 