Juan Williams (b. April 1954) is an American journalist, author and radio and television correspondent. He is a Senior Correspondent at National Public Radio, has written at length for The Washington Post, regularly appears as a contributor on Fox News, and is an Emmy Award winner.[1]
Biography
Early years
Williams was born in Colón, Panama, near the Canal Zone, then a United States territory. He was raised in the Episcopal branch of the Anglican church, of which his father, a boxing trainer, was a member. In 1958, his family moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He went on to graduate from Haverford College with a degree in philosophy.
Career
After college, Williams immediately began his tenure at The Washington Post, for which he worked from 1976 to 1999. During his tenure at the Post, he played several roles, including editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House correspondent.
In 1996, Williams became host of the syndicated television program America's Black Forum, on which he is the cornerstone of a panel that has included Julian Bond, Niger Innis, Debra Mathis, and Armstrong Williams.
He has been a Fox News Channel political contributor since 1997. He is a regular panelist on Special Report with Brit Hume and Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. On Fox News Sunday, he is known for his frequent debates with Brit Hume and Bill Kristol.
Williams serves as a senior national correspondent for NPR, providing analysis of major events in interviews with the anchors for the newsmagazines Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He also hosts the "Political Corner" segment each Thursday on NPR's News and Notes. The segment discusses the latest important political issues with two guest analysts — most recently, professor and author Michael K. Fauntroy and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile — joining the discussion. Williams has also written articles for national magazines, including Ebony, Fortune, and GQ.
Television
Williams has received an Emmy Award for television documentary writing, and has won widespread critical acclaim for a series of documentaries, including Politics — The New Black Power, and A. Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom. He is the author of the non-fiction bestseller Eyes on The Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 and Thurgood Marshall — American Revolutionary.
Books
Williams's latest book is Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America — and What We Can Do about It (August 2006), a critical look at the current generation of black leaders. In it, he echoes themes expressed by Bill Cosby, calling on black Americans to take responsibility for their actions; return to a work ethic that, he contends, has been lost in recent years; and begin to reemphasize stigmatization, at least in certain forms, as a way to promote policies that he sees as conducive to black development, such as renewed focus on education, monogamy and marriage, and self-sufficiency.
While Williams acknowledges that the African-American community has made great strides since the civil rights era, he also argues that there have been significant areas, such as the out-of-wedlock birth rate, in which black Americans and families have fallen behind. He expressed these views in an interview about his book that aired on NPR's Morning Edition on August 7, 2006.
Allegations of sexual harassment
In 1991, Williams was disciplined by the Washington Post after several female employees at the paper claimed he directed "sexually explicit and hostile comments" towards them.[2] Williams' letter of apology read, in part: "Some of my verbal conduct was wrong. I now know that, and I extend my sincerest apology to those whom I offended."[2]
Williams, a staunch defender of then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas against allegations of sexual harassment brought against him by Anita Hill, wrote in an Op-Ed column for the Post that Hill had no "credible evidence" to support her allegations against Thomas, while Williams was still under investigation by the Post for his own behavior towards female colleagues at the paper.[2]
Criticism
Juan Williams is a frequent guest on the Fox News channel. He was caught in the cross fire when he was helping Bill O'Reilly battle the negative comments O'Reilly himself was accused of making on his radio show about black people. He was criticized as a "happy negro" on CNN by media pundit Dr. Boyce Watkins. [3] Mr. Williams responded by suggesting that he was "collateral damage"[4] and that he was caught in the controversial remarks Bill O'Reilly made about black people on O'Reilly's visit to the African American owned Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem, New York.[5]
References
External links
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