Juan Williams Fired...Stupidity Was The Reason

I know by now everyone has heard about Juan Williams being fired, so I don't need to elaborate on what happened, however, I will elaborate on why he was fired and you may comment on it if you choose whether you agree with me or not.


Williams was fired not because he was a black journalist who said the wrong thing, I think race had nothing to do with this incident. I think his repeated violations of NPR's warnings was the reason. Furthermore, I believe his affiliation with Fox played a part in him being fired.


The question that comes to mind for me is, "What ever happened to being unbias and fair as a journalist?" What he said may have been taken out of content, I'm not disputing that, however he is a journalist and he should have never made the comment.


Everybody is getting mad at NPR, but would you have been mad if he had been white and had said he fear blacks? No you would have been mad at him and demanded he be fired. I think NPR did what they had to do to protect the integrity of their station and if I were in their shoes, I would have fired him also.


In media, their should be boundaries you do not cross and things you do not say, this was just a wake up call to all of these so called journalists that think their opinion  matters. In journalism you have no opinion, so therefore you don't say anything that is offensive to others, even if it is something that most people think. Had he had some facts to back up what he said, I would have been mad at NPR, but since this was a stupid comment made by a stupid man, I say you get what you dish!

UPDATE:
OK, I new Jessie Jackson was going to get involved in this situation. This is another chance for him to get in the spotlight and steal it from the real issue. I don't know about you, but why is it that he is worried about Juan Williams and he has yet to speak up about the Scott Sisters life sentence for robbery when no one was hurt in that robbery. I know this is another issue, but it seems to me that he only get involved in high profile situations so that he can use big words and the race card. As an African American, I am sick of the race card being used every time he gives a speech. One of these days it will  be a race issue and no one will care because he overused it! 


Jackson talks about freedom of speech, but as a journalist it is my opinion that you don't have freedom of speech because your freedom was purchased by the company that employs you. I feel like journalists should never state opinions, unless they are backed by facts because they are viewed as fair and impartial. Also, his comparison to the issue with Shirley Sherrod. That was totally different. Her firing was wrongful because they edited her words to make a statement that she did not say, however, Juan Williams said what he meant to say, so he should suffer the consequences.


His comment about freedom of speech is totally wrong and does not apply to this situation because journalist are not free to speak their minds because they are the voice of the people to the people. I also feel that this race card thing is too controversial and overrated. He could have came up with other reasons why NPR was out of place for firing Williams. Now he makes others think that we will always say our race is the reason something happens to us. This creates another negative typecast added to African Americans.

Started Way Back When with Gimme a Break

Gimme a Break was a very popular show from 1981-1987. I watched it religiously with my family, because it was one of the very few shows that actually had an African American as somewhat of a leading role. The show was about this black woman named Nell Harper, played by Nell Carter, as a housekeeping for this white police chief, who is a widower.  The police chief has three children that Nell sees after and takes care of because of a promise she made to the late wife of the police chief. During this time, you didn't see many films in which blacks played roles that were not very stereotypical, this show displayed a role that was usual during that time, however it did not show a role of a black person being ignorant or obscene as in previous shows during the seventies and early eighties. The message this show gave was it was typical for a black women to take care of white families. During this time, I lived with my grandmother and her job was to clean houses for various white families during the week. The job did not have any benefits and she would usually come home too tired to cook and clean her own house. This show was very realistic to the views of blacks as the sort of caretaker and cleaner for the upper-classed white people. They were not expected to be successful blacks in professional settings and it showed in the imagery on television. Also, during this time, the images of black women were usually of fat black women, women with large hips, short hair, big breast. Most of the images during this time were stereotypical images of a thick, full figured women, even though black women come in other sizes. Some other stereotypes you see in this depiction is that of a not so educated woman, a loud mouthed black woman, very opinionated, nagging and someone who bickers or talks about her friends. Included in this discussion is links for this particular show, I invite you to view the suggested clips or add clips of your own. I also ask that you comment and enter in a discussion with me and lets see whether or not the images have changed, still the same or are the worse than they were doing that time. I would also like for you to include other shows that aired during the seventies and eighties in which the image portrayed were deemed offensive or stereotypical roles of both the black male and black woman.
You may include shows in which they are:
-living in the ghetto
-a maid
-dating multiple partners
-doing stupid things
-single mother 
-drug addicts
-loud mouths
-fat women
-nasty
-or any other role in which the character does not depict blacks in the proper manner




Links:
Nell with the doo wopp girls


Breakdown part 1


valentine part 4