NationStates Jolt Archive

Sometimes someone says something so remarkably insane that you just have to call attention to it. In response to a caller on his show asserting that the revenue from people aborted over the past 30 years would be enough to ensure the solvency of Social Security (which is an entirely different question, is it proper to refer to an aborted fetus as a "person"), former Secretary of Education under Reagan and host of Bill Bennett's Morning in America managed to combine a stunning non sequitur with a level of racism that would make even David Duke uncomfortable. Here's the part that just screams harmony in a world of difference:

Bill "Barbara Bush Ain't Got Nothin On Me" Bennett: "But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

Yes, Bill, wholesale slaughter is indeed tricky. Just ask Slobodan Milošević. I would have said Hitler, but I didn't want to Godwin the thread in the first post. At least you realize it would be "impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible". Perhaps you won't go straight to hell, but just to limbo for awhile.

Now, ostensably, Bennett was just performing a unique brand of extrapolative argument using the book Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The book, with a fact-finding integrity not seen since The Bell Curve, puts forth the idea that legalized abortion has caused a reduction in crime rates. Even Levitt and Dubner, however, were wise enough not to try and draw any sort of race correlation in their work.

Ah, Whatever Works Pragmatism at it's finest.

I'm no fan of the Republicans, or of Mr. Bennett, but I don't think what he said was as bad as some are making it out to be. First of all, he wouldn't advocate mass abortions. He's anti-abortion. Secondly I don't think he's racist enough to think that only black people commit crimes, but he may be racist enough to think that they commit the majority of crimes. I'm not sure. Mainly though I think he just made a very unfortunate choice of words.

I'm no fan of the Republicans, or of Mr. Bennett, but I don't think what he said was as bad as some are making it out to be. First of all, he wouldn't advocate mass abortions. He's anti-abortion. Secondly I don't think he's racist enough to think that only black people commit crimes, but he may be racist enough to think that they commit the majority of crimes. I'm not sure. Mainly though I think he just made a very unfortunate choice of words.


but he may be racist enough to think that they commit the majority of crimes

If you have crime statistics in front of you and they say that as a group black people commit more crime than any others , how is it racist to " think" that black people commit the majority of crimes ?

Bennets mistake was that he misjudged the PC police . The guy is an anti arortion zelot. In his zeal for his cause he chose to further demonize abortion by using extreme examples of " thought " concerning the subject .
I have already won a hundred dollar bet concerning ; how fast it would be that a headline appeared that said " Right wing Conservative advocates aborting Black babys to controll crime " ! Ahhh yes politics.
Bennets not racist unless he just woke up and decided to try it out. His actions and words throughout his life has not showed any racism . And if in reading or hearing the entire conversation you decide he's racist then IMO you are just looking at something and placing it in a context that you were predisposed to do before the words were ever uttered. Its foolish and doesnt say much about the open and free discourse of ideas and uncensored discussion.

If you have crime statistics in front of you and they say that as a group black people commit more crime than any others , how is it racist to " think" that black people commit the majority of crimes ?

.
Black people make up, what, 12% of the US population? Even if they commit crime at 4 times the rate of everyone else they still wouldn't be commiting most of the crime. Anyway, I'd like to see the statistics.

Black people make up, what, 12% of the US population? Even if they commit crime at 4 times the rate of everyone else they still wouldn't be commiting most of the crime. Anyway, I'd like to see the statistics.

Think about what you just typed. I would be right to say that a black person is four time s more likely to commit a crime than other groups if that statistic was true . And people would still say I was racist for saying it .

Ididnt look for the stats..I said if it were true( and it may be) it would not be racist. If it were close to true it still wouldnt be racist if its an impression you get from being exposed to that type of information. Its only if you pull that fact out of your ass and USE it in a racist manner that paints you as a racist .

Here's the thing. Regardless of statistics, it becomes a racist statement because it is centered around race. He would have been equally correct to say, "If you want crime rates to go down, abort babies." That is, in fact, exactly what Freakonomics implies. He could also have said, again in a pragmatically correct way, "If you want crime rates to go down, abort white babies." Again, this is technically true, but it is racist as it assumes the reason for crime is because the babies are born white.

What he said was that, completely ignoring issues of environment, poverty and upbringing, a black baby by the mere virtue of the melanin content of it's skin, is more prone to commit a crime than another baby of a different ethnicity. That's racism.

This wasn't spin and this wasn't politics. This was just a truly dumb thing to say.

a) While Mr Bennett was Secretary of Education, he sought to appoint two people from Harvard to his staff. During the hearing, mention was made of their attitudes toward other people. I paraphrase, but this was reported in the news: The external appearance of people tells a lot about their moral development; a handicapped person, by virtue of his handicap, is morally inferior to one who has no handicap. Thanks to Senator Lowell Weiker of Connecticut, these products of Harvard University were rejected.

I mention this to indicate that Mr Bennett, beneath the suave exterior, would have supported two 'racists' that would have made Hitler proud.

b) People of African origin are Americans! If there are statistics that show that they commit crimes out of proportion to their population, perhaps one should look at the statistics that show that they are also more likely to live in poverty, to have no health insurance, to be the victims of poor and underfunded schools, to be the victims of overt or covert 'racism', etc. People are not stupid! how long must one hit one's head against the color barrier to know that US American society still discriminates against African Americans, despite their continuing bravery in defending the very society that keeps them 'in their place'?

Sometimes someone says something so remarkably insane that you just have to call attention to it. In response to a caller on his show asserting that the revenue from people aborted over the past 30 years would be enough to ensure the solvency of Social Security (which is an entirely different question, is it proper to refer to an aborted fetus as a "person"), former Secretary of Education under Reagan and host of Bill Bennett's Morning in America managed to combine a stunning non sequitur with a level of racism that would make even David Duke uncomfortable. Here's the part that just screams harmony in a world of difference:

Bill "Barbara Bush Ain't Got Nothin On Me" Bennett: "But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

Yes, Bill, wholesale slaughter is indeed tricky. Just ask Slobodan Milošević. I would have said Hitler, but I didn't want to Godwin the thread in the first post. At least you realize it would be "impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible". Perhaps you won't go straight to hell, but just to limbo for awhile.

Now, ostensably, Bennett was just performing a unique brand of extrapolative argument using the book Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The book, with a fact-finding integrity not seen since The Bell Curve, puts forth the idea that legalized abortion has caused a reduction in crime rates. Even Levitt and Dubner, however, were wise enough not to try and draw any sort of race correlation in their work.

Ah, Whatever Works Pragmatism at it's finest.
Berk! You're back again!!!!!
*bows*