Did Politico Suspend Reporter Joe Williams Just for Being Black?

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Jun 22 |20:01

Joe Williams, a reporter for Politico.com, has been suspended for making comments about presidential candidate Mitt Romney that the company deems to be racially-offensive. During an appearance on the show hosted by Martin Bashir, Williams said this:

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It's very interesting that he does so many appearances on Fox & Friends. And it's unscripted. It's the only time they let Mitt off the leash, so to speak. But it also points out a larger problem he's got to solve if he wants to be successful come this fall: Romney is very, very comfortable, it seems, with people who are like him. That's one of the reasons why he seems so stiff and awkward in some town hall settings, why he can't relate to people other than that. But when he comes on Fox & Friends, they're like him. They're white folks who are very much relaxed in their own company.

Do you hear that? Those are the crickets chirping in the background as I sit and wait for you to give me the punch line that led to Williams being suspended. I can't find a single offensive word in Williams' remarks, and the comments are every bit as professional as Williams himself. I've interacted with Joe during numerous interviews, and on every single occasion, he was efficient, thorough and thoughtful in his questioning. The idea that he has somehow been labeled to be a rogue is beyond laughable.

But you see, there's a pattern and unfortunately Joe has been affected by it. For the most part, being born a Black man who speaks conscientiously or accurately about issues of race effectively defines you to be a rogue. There isn't much of a disconnect between the Black man who is stopped and frisked on the street, and the Black male professor/journalist/doctor/lawyer who has his capabilities questioned, even when he does nothing wrong.

Cornel West was a rogue at Harvard for seeking to reengage the black community. I was a trouble maker in elementary school when I answered questions without raising my hand. Barack Obama was defined as a radical leftist by the Republican Party for saying that the wealthy should pay slightly higher taxes. It's easy for black men to be marginalized very quickly in most mainstream environments, primarily because people are waiting for you to say something that they can define to be volatile or dangerous.

In media, the pattern is quite the same: Just a couple of years ago, Marc Lamont Hill was ambushed by the Right Wing and fired from Fox News for no good reason. After that, Roland Martin was suspended from CNN for making remarks that I personally didn't agree with, but were acceptable to many millions of African Americans. The consistent and unfortunate reality for many African Americans who work with mainstream (read: White-owned) media organizations is that you must either be a good little boy who goes along with the program or you have to "take your black ass back to the ghetto." Most of these organizations have little interest in true and meaningful diversity of ideas, they only want to have a black face or two at the table so they can pretend that they are making racial progress.

Source: NewsOne.com | Dr. Boyce Watkins

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.