In an interview with The Huffington Post, conducted before the most recent controversy surrounding an NPR executive’s comments about the tea party (and CEO Vivian Schiller’s ousting), Williams blasted the organization for its treatment of him.

“I think when it comes to NPR’s decision to, without any reason, throw me out the door, I think that for them, especially for some of the people who created NPR, it’s an all-white operation,” Williams said. He added that he thought NPR “felt they had never had much success” with black or Hispanic journalists, and that they had had “more success with white women.”

Williams was terminated from the organization in October following comments on Fox News that he gets “nervous” when he sees Muslims on a plane. NPR was roundly criticized for its handling of the situation–an independent review “expressed concern over [Schiller's] role in the termination process” and stripped her of her 2010 bonus.