Getting A Second Chance: Armstrong Williams
Getting A Second Chance: Armstrong Williams
Sufiya Abdur-rahman
Rolling Out Magazine
When the news broke back in January that conservative commentator Armstrong Williams accepted money from the Bush administration to promote No Child Left Behind on his TV and radio program, people thought his career was over.
His weekly column was dropped by more than a dozen papers nationwide. His regular appearances on "America's Black Forum," came to an end. Even production of his own program, "The Right Side," was suspended.
Now that the dust has settled, Williams can be heard laughing and chumming it up with Sam Greenfield every afternoon as the new cohost of "Drivetime Dialogue" on New York's WWRL 1600AM.
"I think this is a country that believes in second chances," says Williams, whose bald head, bespectacled face and hard-line conservatism created a persona many blacks loved to hate. When he stumbled, some rejoiced.
But no matter what can be said about his ethics, Williams says, "People still feel like I have a point of view that should not be diminished."
Although his WWRL show doesn't quite reach the huge audience of CNN or Fox News, Williams is grateful for the opportunity. He doesn't knock the good that's come out of his bad situation, either.
"People take me far more seriously. Now, I'm taking myself so much more seriously," Williams says.
In his new book, The New Racists: How Liberal Democrats Have Betrayed Minority Americans Williams describes what he calls the vilification of black conservatives like himself and Condoleezza Rice. It also touches on his recent controversy.
"I learned from it and I'm a better person because of it," he says.
