NPR Juan Williams, Gets a $2 Million Deal from Fox

It appears that Fox News has really embraced Juan Williams. Shortly after Williams was fired from NPR for making offensive statements about Muslims, Fox signed him to a three-year contract reportedly worth $2 million. His role will be an expanded one, where he will make more appearances on the network and become a stronger fixture in the Fox News lineup.

Williams was instantly fired from NPR for saying that he gets nervous when he sees Muslims on the same airplane as himself. The comments were implying that Muslims are more likely to be terrorists, and that any Muslim he encounters might be the one that wants to blow him up. Isn't that like a white woman saying that she gets nervous when black men get on the elevator with her at night?

The timing of Fox's decision to offer Williams a blockbuster deal is intriguing. By offering Williams a new deal right after he was sent away by NPR, Fox is making a clear statement to both the Muslim community and the rest of America that it doesn't care what either group thinks.

Williams is also in the same class as Don Imus and a few other public figures who've made disrespectful comments about minorities. Many of these individuals are fired by their original networks only to be either brought back a few months later or sent to a more conservative platform. In fact, Glenn Beck has shown us that the more vile and inflammatory the commentator's rhetoric, the more he is going to be embraced by Fox.

Juan Williams belongs with Fox News, a network that has a poorly disguised political agenda. They work directly with conservatives to fire up the very worst of America and threaten to tear the country apart. Also, by signing a larger deal with Fox and being banished from NPR, Williams has further solidified the public's pre-existing perception of him as a mediocre journalist whose greatest achievement is to be a mouthpiece for those who don't respect minorities. This makes me sad, because Williams showed a tremendous amount of potential earlier in his career. Perhaps in the age of the Internet, integrity just doesn't pay the bills.

I wish Juan Williams good luck in his new role. I can't think of a better fit.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.