Was it wrong for him to be sacked?

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/2vux5e7

A top US public radio network has sacked a senior news analyst after he made disparaging remarks about Muslims on television.

This is what he said:

/// "But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous." ///

Was what he said disparaging or even racist.

What if he said "When I board a plane in England and it is full of football supporters, I get worried, I get nervous"

[sp1814]

"Yet in the past you have not been at all slow in stereotyping whites as paedophiles"

Nope - I've never said that...I've merely put forward that whenever you've referred to statistics showing blacks as being responsible for most street crime. I will always point out that it's all very well defining crime by race, as long as you accept the rarity of black paedophiles.

Cuts both ways.

But back to the point - it's racist for you to assume that a gang of drunken football supporters would pick on a lone black man.

Outrageously racist.

If I'd have written something like that, I would be rightly castigated.

[fredpuli47]

You don't go to football much , AOG! If you did you'd know that anti-black racism in football fans is a thing of the past. A cynic might say that's because it's hard to be racist against black people when some of your own team's players are themselves black, but it is more a matter of wide acceptance of black people in general.

Not so, years ago. I can still remember the crowd making monkey noises when a black player got the ball and a fan behind me at Chelsea being horrified at Chelsea fielding a black reserve and expressing himself by " Effing hell, an effing c [rhymes with 'moon'] at Chelsea !", to which comment not a word was said.

There aren't yet many (or any?) Asians in top class soccer teams. It may be that racism will be directed at the first, but I doubt it. The climate is against it. There are Moslems but they are black or Turkish, not Asian.However,racism is a problem in soccer in some other countries; that's why there's a pan-European campaign against it

[tamborine]

I love muslims..........as much as they love me !

[ludwig]

It would raise a few eyebrows alright Lucy. Yours included when a big black fist connects with your nose.