Juan Williams on African-American 'Victimhood'

npr ^ | 8 7 06 | morning edition

[flixxx]

August 7, 2006 · Many African-American leaders have lost touch with a hallmark of the civil rights movement -- the tradition of self-empowerment, Juan Williams says in his new book. Instead, they've embraced the notion of "victimhood," the NPR senior correspondent says.

His book is called Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America -- and What We Can Do About It.

"I think it's a terrible signal to our young people about who black people are to have us constantly wrapped in the cloak of victimhood, and to have black leadership that in a knee-jerk fashion defends negative, dysfunctional behavior," Williams tells Steve Inskeep.

Their conversation begins a week-long series on the state of leadership in the African-American community, and contemporary African-American life.

[MonroeDNA]

Cut him some slack. How brave would you be, raised to believe oppression, etc., then finding out, discovering, it might not be the case? It is easy to arm-chair quarterback.

He is a brave guy; I applaud him. He is going against everything he was taught. And will certainly buy his book.

I want the insight.

[Gone GF]

"Watch him get suspended from NPR for this."

This interview was ON NPR. He had already written the book; they knew what he was going to say.

[bpjam]

OH, don't worry about Juan Williams. He has plenty of party line liberalism in him. He is about 80% straight off the DNC talking points. That he is suddenly speaking publicly about the abject failure of black 'leadership' to actually lead is where he is out of step with his masters.

Otherwise, he is pro-affirmative action, pro-abortion, pro-public school monopoly, pro-palestinian, pro-appeasement, pro-minimum wage hikes, pro-forced unionization, pro-gay marriage, pro-hyphenated americans and anti-American winning anyplace in the world. He is clearly still ON the plantation but maybe this is going to be his singular revolt before he gets kicked off NPR for questioning liberalisms commandment: Thou Shalt Become A Victim.

[FreeLuna]

No argument. I agree.