Here's what's being overlooked in all of this. The hypothetical example that immediately popped into Bennett's head was based on a premise equating black people with criminals. He could have made a similar example of aborting the male fetuses of upper-class white families to reduce the rate of child molestation. And as he pointed out on the show, likely having realized that his example was an incredibly insensitive one, "[o]ne could just as easily have said you could abort all children and prevent all crime to show the absurdity of the proposition." Bennett's been very effective in muddying the waters around the controversy, trying to make the whole thing a debate about abortion and not race.
The fact of the matter is that Bennett's brain is wired in such a way that he immediately associates "black" with "crime." Unfortunately, many white people's brains are likely wired the same way. This doesn't make them prime candidates for Klan membership, but it does reveal the latent racism that sadly pervades too much of our society. The problem is much larger than just Bill Bennett's stupid comments.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
More Bennett follow-up
On MyDD, found via The Republic of T, found via One Odd Goose:
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2 comments:
I'd argue that in the excerpts you cite in that blog entry, PP is actually identifying a socially positive by-product of readily avalible birth control.
But in any case, you evade the larger point. One that both the poster from MyDD made here, and one I made in an earlier post (that you may have missed), namely:
Say Bennett isn't a racist. I think he is, but I don't claim to know all. So say he isn't. That still doesn't answer the question:
What kind of man is so insensitive as to make such a remark?
Especially at this time of heightened awareness of at least the *perception* of a racial divide.
That's what I find most flat-out indefensible, especially coming from one who claimed moral authority to write a book on virtues. The irony leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I don't think Bennett *is* aware of current awareness of the racial divide. He may not even be aware that there are white people who think the racial divide is a problem.
And *that*'s the country's worst form of racism.
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