by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Juan Williams, the most peculiar black journalist in America, made yet another statement that had heads turning. Williams effectively made the argument that there's nothing wrong with people saying that young black men make them nervous. In a conversation with Dr. Caroline Helmand, a professor at Occidental College, Williams stood the Fox News line by basically refuting Helman's assertion that it would be bigoted for a person to say that they clutch their purse every time a black man walks by. The dialogue went like this:
Helmand: "I happen to agree with Schiller that your comments were bigoted. I think that if I were to say that I clutch my purse every time I walk by a black man that might resonate with a lot of Americans. It might be the truth but it's a bigoted statement. I certainly wouldn't have fired you but I do think there was some truth in that video that we don't get to talk about because we are afraid to have actual discourse in this country."
