FIRST ON FOX: Juan Williams, a Fox News contributor, has announced his newest book to be published in Jan. 2025 called “New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement.”
The book will be published by Simon & Schuster. In addition to his role as a political analyst at Fox News, Williams is an award-winning author, journalist and columnist for The Hill.
The new book is a follow-up to Williams’ bestselling 1987 civil rights history “Eyes on the Prize,” which was also a highly viewed PBS special of the same name.
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In an interview on Wednesday morning with Fox News Digital, Williams — the author of many books — said about writing this new one, “We’re in a different phase of race relations in America right now. It’s a new movement. But people don’t see that. People can get lost in the politics and the personalities of the moment.”
Yet by stepping back, “you can see there’s something new here and all of us are part of it. All of us, every one of us, are involved in this history,” he said.
In this year of 2024 right now, “we’re celebrating 60 years since the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, and then next year, 60 years since the ’65 Voting Rights Act was passed,” he said.
“So we talk about those historical markers and we recognize them — but I think it’s harder when we’re living through a new political and civil rights dynamic to say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m right in the middle of this.’
“We can get caught up today in the latest controversy, in the personalities that come and go,” he added. “It’s harder for people to see themselves in history — and this is a historic moment in terms of race and culture in America.”
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Williams said that by “paying attention to politics on a daily basis” for Fox News, he’s been able to recognize that “there is something larger going on here. And I think it takes a book to help people open their eyes to their place in American history.”
This is not just a Black American or other minority story, he said.
“I hope that all Americans, all people in this country,” said Williams, “will be able to say after they read this book, ‘Oh my gosh. I am a historic figure.’ And see themselves as actors in this moment of creating American history. And I don’t mean just Black Americans. I’m saying that White Americans are very much at the forefront of this movement.”
Williams said he believes it is worth remembering the George Floyd protests.
“Those were the largest protests in American history, and the majority of the people out there were Whites — so I think lots of people might think, ‘Oh, this is about race. It must be intended for a Black or Latino or Asian audience.’ But no,” he said.
Without “White Americans pushing for change, it wouldn’t happen,” said Williams.
While writing the book, Williams said he realized that “you don’t have what’s going on now with race relations in America unless you have an understanding that White Americans remain the majority of the population — and that there is a large group of Whites who are very involved in creating this moment of social change. And they are joined by a large population of Hispanics and Blacks.”
So without this “large group including White Americans pushing for change, it wouldn’t happen,” said Williams.
“There is a large percentage of Whites who are absolutely committed to the idea that we need a new racial story, a new racial reality in America.”
Williams is the author of a biography of former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall as well as many other books.
“Today’s activists are making history in a new political, economic and cultural landscape.”
He noted that “one of the sad points about this moment in American life is that political polarization drives people into corners, and it drives our public view of people into niches.”
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The truth is that we should “remove these overlays and say, ‘Wait a second. We’re all blessed to be living in this country. Look at the opportunity that exists here in the United States. We also have common values.’ And the reason that so many people are dying to get into this country is because not only is there the opportunity, but it is a vital, vibrant place to be.”
Williams pointed to the U.S.’s superior military power but “also that we’re an economic power, a cultural power — and we’re an example when it comes to race for much of the world.”
The new book will reveal why today’s civil rights movement, according to Williams, “is different than the first movement’s focus on legal battles in the courtroom and legislative victories in Congress. Today’s activists are making history in a new political, economic and cultural landscape. And they’re using a new media and more educated people to do so.”
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