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Post by BeantownHoya on Sept 30, 2005 11:37:26 GMT -5
Bennett told a caller to his syndicated radio talk show Wednesday: "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 impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down," he said.
Wow, it's one thing to even make a comment like that, it another thing after all the smoke clears to actually stand by and defend those comments.
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Post by BeantownHoya on Sept 30, 2005 11:38:04 GMT -5
I should have said former Education Secretary.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Sept 30, 2005 12:24:52 GMT -5
This was played on the Howard Stern show Thursday and also on MSNBC's Keith Olbermann show.
Both of their responses to the audio clip were right on target: such comments are indefensible and an educated man like Bennett should know better.
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Sept 30, 2005 12:34:17 GMT -5
Before bashing I suggest you read the entire account of what Bennett said, not just the sound bite you quoted. He was responding to a question called in about whether the social security program was in trouble because abortions were up, thereby limiting the number of people contributing to the fund. Bennett was saying that's not the way to attack abortions, rather it should be attacked on the basis of morals and he said it's rather like saying the crime rate could be reduced if all black babies were aborted - which he then said was a true statement. Did Howard Stern and Keith Olbermann play the entire quote or the selected sound bite? Oh, and by the way, was Bennett's statement, even in the sound bite, accurate or not?
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Post by BeantownHoya on Sept 30, 2005 13:54:24 GMT -5
easyed I will admit I was not aware of the full context. Most of what I read was from cnn.com and that also did not include the entire dialogue of what occured.
I am not accussing of him of being a racist by any means, I understand that his statement was made in hypothetical fashion. However, whether he feels what he said was true or not, it's probably an opinion better not said. He would be naive to think that this statement would receive no backlash.
If you were to abort all white babies that would reduce the countries crime rate as well. I beleive "whites" commit crimes too. To include any racial tones to make his point is where I feel he made a bad judgement.
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Sept 30, 2005 14:09:48 GMT -5
I agree, bad judgement and bad choice of words.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 3, 2005 17:57:58 GMT -5
easyed I will admit I was not aware of the full context. Most of what I read was from cnn.com and that also did not include the entire dialogue of what occured. I am not accussing of him of being a racist by any means, I understand that his statement was made in hypothetical fashion. However, whether he feels what he said was true or not, it's probably an opinion better not said. He would be naive to think that this statement would receive no backlash. If you were to abort all white babies that would reduce the countries crime rate as well. I beleive "whites" commit crimes too. To include any racial tones to make his point is where I feel he made a bad judgement. First, I agree it was a poor judgment call. But I assume that the point he was trying to make in pointing out the absurdity of the proposition he was given that because (I assume) there is a higher crime rate in among african americans, then aborting all black babies would reduce the crime across the population as a whole. Aborting all white babies, as you mention, may reduce the numbers of crime committed, but not the crime rate. Again, probably a bad call on Bennett's part, but I think that was the "point" he was trying to make. |
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Oct 3, 2005 20:28:56 GMT -5
Not to get in to statistics, but crime rates are measured by arrests and convictions as opposed to actual crime. You might scoff, but take these numbers for example:
Between 13-15% of both blacks and whites admit to illegal drug use
However over 37% of drug related arrests are of black suspects
I can get further into it...but my point is crime statistics are riddled with problems.
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SirSaxa
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Post by SirSaxa on Oct 4, 2005 9:10:28 GMT -5
Not to get in to statistics, but crime rates are measured by arrests and convictions as opposed to actual crime. You might scoff, but take these numbers for example: Between 13-15% of both blacks and whites admit to illegal drug use However over 37% of drug related arrests are of black suspects I can get further into it...but my point is crime statistics are riddled with problems. No question that statistics are riddled with problems. But crime rates are not measure by arrests and convictions. Crime rate is measured by crimes reported/committed. The number of murders, rapes, robberies, etc. in NYC is measured by the actual instances of those crimes, not by the number of arrests, let alone convictions. |
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aggypryd
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Post by aggypryd on Oct 4, 2005 15:20:36 GMT -5
I agree, bad judgement and bad choice of words. I disagree...GREAT choice of words... I hate when racist people mince words... |
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 4, 2005 21:19:46 GMT -5
I agree, bad judgement and bad choice of words. I disagree...GREAT choice of words... I hate when racist people mince words... Why do you assume he's a racist? |
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aggypryd
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Post by aggypryd on Oct 5, 2005 7:56:48 GMT -5
I disagree...GREAT choice of words... I hate when racist people mince words... Why do you assume he's a racist? I don't assume...I know... A tree is known by the fruit it bears... Out of all the different races of people in this country that would have made his statement true, why did he pick a race other than his own? The question isn't why do I assume he's a racist, you need to be asking yourself, "Why do I assume that he isn't?" But that's the problem...most non-Black and non-Latino people believe that we're being too sensitive. "Oh, he didn't mean it like that." You don't have to call me a Edited for me to know that racism is alive and kickin' in the good ol' U.S. Unfortunately, some Black folks still haven't gotten the memo. |
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 5, 2005 9:26:28 GMT -5
I don't assume...I know... I'm glad you know what's in his heart and what he truly believes. I'm in awe that you can tell what a person thinks by looking at one statement. A tree is known by the fruit it bears... Well then, by all means, take one statement from a man (whom I assume is 50-60 years old) and ignore all the other "fruit" in order to paint him as a racist. Out of all the different races of people in this country that would have made his statement true, why did he pick a race other than his own? Because, as I noted above, the "analogy" wouldn't hold if he picked a population segment that didn't have a higher statistical crime rate than other populations (the accuracy or veracity of those statistics aside). In a completely oversimplified look at just the numbers aspect, if whites have a crime rate of 10%, the overal population has a crime rate of 15%, and blacks have a crime rate of 20%, then eliminating whites from the crime rate wouldn't reduce the overall crime rate. The question isn't why do I assume he's a racist, you need to be asking yourself, "Why do I assume that he isn't?" Easy, I don't assume that people are racist. I think if you start off assuming that every white man/Republican/whatever is racist, then you have bigger problems then worrying about what Bill Bennett said on his radio show. But that's the problem...most non-Black and non-Latino people believe that we're being too sensitive. "Oh, he didn't mean it like that." You don't have to call me a Edited for me to know that racism is alive and kickin' in the good ol' U.S. Unfortunately, some Black folks still haven't gotten the memo. I don't dispute that there is racists in the country. However, I do believe that there are people who actively look for racism and think they see it where it doesn't really exist. I believe that if you're starting with the assumption that a group of people are racist, then you're going to fall in to that trap. |
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Oct 5, 2005 9:54:26 GMT -5
Interesting article by Courtland Milloy in today's Washington Post. Milloy is an African American. "African American women , who make up only 13 percent of the U.S. female population, accounted for 32 percent of the 1,293,000 abortions performed in the United States in 2002". And, "If the Ku Klux Klan were killing blacks the way blacks kill blacks, we'd be up in arms". Read the whole article at: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100401764.html |
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aggypryd
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Post by aggypryd on Oct 5, 2005 12:07:42 GMT -5
I don't dispute that there is racists in the country. However, I do believe that there are people who actively look for racism and think they see it where it doesn't really exist. I believe that if you're starting with the assumption that a group of people are racist, then you're going to fall in to that trap. I've never had to go looking for racism, or create a situation of racism out of thin air... But that's white arrogance and privilege that tell Black people that what they're experiencing is not racism...we just create it to suit our needs... |
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 5, 2005 13:57:59 GMT -5
I don't dispute that there is racists in the country. However, I do believe that there are people who actively look for racism and think they see it where it doesn't really exist. I believe that if you're starting with the assumption that a group of people are racist, then you're going to fall in to that trap. I've never had to go looking for racism, or create a situation of racism out of thin air... But that's white arrogance and privilege that tell Black people that what they're experiencing is not racism...we just create it to suit our needs... I feel very sorry for you. |
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Oct 5, 2005 16:06:41 GMT -5
That's good...condescending pity. What a perfectly apt reaction to suggestions that racism is more prevalent in America than you are led to believe. I mean, seriously, I'm sure disdain is the best reaction when trying to disprove the fact that many whites look down on the black population. Just saying, perhaps you should approach your argument from a different angle.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 5, 2005 16:34:48 GMT -5
I see nothing wrong with feeling sorry for him because he apparently sees racism around every corner and is consumed with "white arrogance and privilege." It has nothing to do with looking down on anyone.
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aggypryd
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Post by aggypryd on Oct 5, 2005 16:51:36 GMT -5
I feel very sorry for you. No need to ever feel sorry for me... Save your pity for those that don't know any better. |
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