Like many conservatives, Bill Bennett is either clueless when it comes to racial issues or he is an outright bigot. You would think at this point someone would have told him where he went wrong in his comments about African-Americans, but it appears he only takes advice from other clueless conservatives, who only know how to throw gas on a raging racial fire.
In a recent speech, instead of apologizing to African-Americans, many of which were offended, Bennett went as far as to blame the news media for distorting his remarks about how hypothetically aborting black babies would lead to a reduced crime rate in society.
Bill Bennett and his supporters continue to totally miss the mark. No one thinks he meant his statement literally. No one cares that he personally finds it a repugnant statement. The point is, Bill Bennett believes the statement to be literally true, however repugnant.
Yes, Bennett does believe, (without basis), that aborting only black babies would reduce the crime rate more than, say, aborting only white babies.
I have a few hypotheticals for Bennett as long as we are engaged in a "freakonomics" fantasy. Aborting all conservatives would lead to a raising of the minimum wage and universal health care. Aborting all conservatives would lead to equal rights for gays and strengthening of social security. Aborting all conservatives would lead to a more peaceful planet, less government sanctioned death, and a balanced budget. Aborting all conservatives would eliminate the culture of corruption, improve democracy in America, and help alleviate racial tensions.
While those statements are repugnant as well, there is one big difference. The hypotheticals above about conservatives are true. The statement Bill Bennett made as a hypothetical about African-Americans is literally false. Bennett's insistence that his statement is true --without any study to back it up, and without accounting for other factors that occur after birth, such as poverty or prejudice, exposes his underlying bigotry. That is why people are angry, not because the "liberal media" took him out of context.
Balletshooz blogs at Alpha Liberal: Blogs, News, and Opinion.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jill Henry
From article: "The statement Bill Bennett made as a hypothetical about African-Americans is literally false."
Interracial Crime
• Of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving blacks and whites, blacks commit 85 percent and whites commit 15 percent.
• Blacks commit more violent crime against whites than against blacks. Forty-five percent of their victims are white, 43 percent are black, and 10 percent are Hispanic. When whites commit violent crime, only three percent of their victims are black.
• Blacks are an estimated 39 times more likely to commit a violent crime against a white than vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit robbery.
• Blacks are 2.25 times more likely to commit officially-designated hate crimes against whites than vice versa.
• Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.
• When blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.
• Hispanics commit violent crimes at roughly three times the white rate, and Asians commit violent crimes at about one quarter the white rate.
• The single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is black and Hispanic.
Sincerely,
Jill Henry
2 - Nancy
Just out of curiosity, how do you know Bennett believes the statement to be true? I took it to be a sort of "for example"; he could just as easily have used "catholics" or "males" or "muslims" or anything else.
3 - Vile Stench
Jill,
Please do not bring statistics and evidence into the racial debate, telling the truth will leave you branded as a racist just like Bill Bennett.
Since no liberal has yet to refute your obviously racist statement let me do it for them.
First: There is no such thing as race, unless of course your going for a government contract or trying to get an affirmative action slot in school. The logic is so sound though. Race does not exist because there are all sorts of mixes and variations between white, black, etc. By the same logic I have deduced that the colors red and blue do not exist either as there are infinite shades of purple between them.
Second: The only reason minorities commit crimes and do poorly in school is because they are poor. All good liberals know this. It is inconcievable to even consider that differences in average intelligence could lead to differences in material "success". Your not poor because your dumb, your dumb because your poor. Don't let silly scientific studies that show exactly the opposite throw you off. Remember, science is the tool of the racist.
Third: Racists like you, through the power of passive racism, have held them down. Although you may not have ever denied them a job, a house, or ever been unkind, you have made the fatal flaw of examining the evidence and trying to find the truth. For this you owe reparations in the amount of $27,852.36. Please make checks payable to one Jesse Jackson, or better yet just give him cash, he won't mind.
4 - Victor Lana
Ballet,
I wonder if Bennett is a racist, stupid, or just nuts. No matter what anyone says, the statement he made was definitely racist.
Wonder how he'd like it if someone said, "To have one less racist, Bill Bennett should have been aborted."
He is really guilty of ignorance and stupidity and perhaps intolerance. An ugly mix to be sure.
5 - Duane
Another fine misuse of statistics (#1). Bennett's statement is false, because what is not being taken into account is the fraction of blacks that makes up the US population. The number of crimes would drop if any sector of the population were to be reduced (obviously). The crime rate, i.e., the number of crimes per year per capita, would not be reduced by aborting all black babies. Work it out for yourself.
6 - Baronius
This is why I love Bill Bennett. By now, anyone else would have apologized, denied he said it, then gone on Larry King and announced a $1 million donation to the UNCF. Not Bill. The man is a philosopher-king. People who hate cookie-cutter politicians should be as delighted as I am.
7 - Phillip Winn
For a more rational view of this issue, try In the Middle: Bill Bennett.
Bottom line: Balletshooz and Duane are factually wrong, while Bennett is factually correct, but insensitive to the extreme.
8 - Dave Nalle
"Aborting all conservatives would lead to a raising of the minimum wage and universal health care. Aborting all conservatives would lead to equal rights for gays and strengthening of social security."
Well, based on these two we should definitely find a way to test babies and make sure we don't abort any potential conservatives.
"Aborting all conservatives would lead to a more peaceful planet"
Nothing more peaceful than a pile of corpses.
"less government sanctioned death"
Most genocidal governments have shared basic philsophical ground with the modern american left.
"and a balanced budget."
Don't make me laugh. It hurts too much.
"Aborting all conservatives would eliminate the culture of corruption"
You've clearly never heard of James Trafficant, the states of Ohio, Missouri, Rhode Island, Louisiana, etc, the Cities of Chicago and Boston, or the myriad other corrupt democrat politicians and places.
"improve democracy in America, and help alleviate racial tensions."
Yep, the tensions would go away once we take hope away and the 'lesser' races are more obedient to their democrat masters.
Dave
9 - Anthony Grande
Aborting all conservatives or aborting all liberals would lead to a single party state. And we all know what a one party state turns into:
COMMUNISM
10 - The Theory
no one would have to get aborted if no one got pregnant in the first place. i would be all in favor of letting the human race Rest in Peace.
11 - KJ
I'm a 27-year-old Black Man from Brooklyn NYC (no I haven’t been to jail!) We all know that ones race does not make them a criminal but lets stop making excuses! Having friends that are drug dealers and family members in prison, I feel that I'm qualified to speak on this. Continuous poverty causes crime and IT IS OUR OWN FAULT that we continue to pass poverty down to our children.
12 - Anthony Grande
KJ, what do you think of Bill Bennett???
13 - KJ
I think Bennett obviously equates the black race and crime; any person who has ever picked up a history book in their life knows isn’t true. At one time racism directly resulted in sub par education and lack of jobs opportunities for Black people in America (which to some extent does contribute to the problems we have today) but our community truly didn’t become so crime infested until the last 30 years or so. I'm actually glad Bennett said what he did because I put the spotlight on two issues that are continuing to stifle the black community: crime and abortion. Hopefully we can start being honest with ourselves (Black community) and admit we have a problem. There IS a solution, and it will not and cannot come from the Government, it has to come from within. Our community has to become fed up with living the way we do.
14 - balletshooz
"Hopefully we can start being honest with ourselves (Black community) and admit we have a problem."
I agree with you but some on the right will take this and say, see, Bill Bennett is right.
I think, IF, it is shown blacks are more prone to crime it is BECAUSE of society, poverty, prejudice, and other things that happen AFTER they are born which push them that way.
To ascribe genetics to black crime as Bennett did and say abortions would cure it is racist, in my opinion.
15 - balletshooz
and a balanced budget.
Don't make me laugh. It hurts too much.
Whats so funny about that? A republican hasnt balanced the budget in 40 years, the only person to do it since WWII was Clinton, a Democrat. He created the largest surplus in history, which Bush blew in less than a year.
16 - Victor Lana
Having grown up in NYC and living with all kinds of people, I'd say that crime is not a problem of race. As I have seen it over the years, it's a problem linked to poverty. Poor people (whatever race) are sometimes forced into crime. This is not racial but social/economic truth.
Remember Jean Valjean (who was white)? He stole a loaf of bread and was sent to jail. He only stole the bread because he was starving. Crime of poverty, certainly not of race.
17 - KJ
racism =
The belief that race accounts for differences in human character...
By definition he’s a racist. He probably doesn’t mean to be. Most racist are so because its an easy way out of actually thinking and investigating, its fear or its all they know. The only thing a person’s race determines in reality is how others treat them.
18 - balletshooz
I agree Victor. The point that got me was that Bennett didn't say we should hypothetically abort all poor people, which might be a true hypothetical.
Somehow in his mind he thinks there is some genetic link between crime and blackness that abortion could cure.
Now obviously Bennett doesnt want genocide on blacks, but it is revealing that he thinks that a true statement.
I can say as a white person there are probably 3 times in my life where I should have at least spent the night in jail but was let go by a friendly white officer. I cant say for sure it is because I am white, but in all probability a black person would have had the book thrown at him. Things like that probably influence black crime stats more than genetics. So Bennett is off base in my opinion.
19 - Phillip Winn
Follow the link I provided, and comment after you've read Freakonomics or at least made an effort to understand that book as the backdrop to Bennett's comments.
Bennett didn't equate race with crime, he respond negatively to a tenet of Freakonomics by pointing out that statistics don't always point to the right actions to take. Statistically, the average black person is far more likely to be arrested for a crime than the average white person, but that doesn't mean that we should abort black babies -- it means we should do what we can to fix the system that creates this statistical imbalance. That's all Bennett was saying, too.
20 - The Fifth Dentist
If it were your sole purpose to reduce the number bloated stupid assclowns with their own insipid radio shows you could kick Bill Bennett's empty nutsack with a steel boot until he shut his rotting pie hole. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but he would eventually shut the hell up.
21 - Dave Nalle
Well put, Phillip. And yes, 5D - I'm sure that violence is the answer to this as to so many problems.
Dave
22 - The Fifth Dentist
Dave--
If you'll notice, I was paraphrasing Bill Bennett. What I wrote were his exact words except that the phrase "abort black babies" was replaced by the phrase "Bennett's empty nutsack." I don't mean to sound immodest, but I think I improved upon his brilliant idea.
In any event, I'm not advocating violence.
23 - Jewels
5th-Dentist: I gotcha message first time through and love the assclowns ref. Dave, you can be so serious.
24 - 1Potato
Balletshooz:
If a person says blacks committ more crimes, they are not necessarily ascribing it to genetics. It could be cultural attitudes, both within and without the black community.
Bennett never said the correlaton was due to genetics. You keep fabricating this assertion again and again in different posts and threads. Would you please consider giving it up already, so that you can go on to your new, fresh lie?
25 - Jewels
1Potato: Balletshooz; to spend the time in your argument you must spend a moment in 'his' shooz.
Much Love