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William Bennett’s ‘hypothetical’ on racial genocide
The statement of former Republican education secretary and “drug czar” William Bennett that the crime rate could be reduced through the abortion of all African-American children has touched off a political firestorm in the US.
Democratic lawmakers and civil rights organizations have demanded he apologize, while some have called for the termination of his syndicated radio program “Morning in America.” In Philadelphia, parents and education advocates responded by demanding the city’s school district—two-thirds of whose students are black—cancel a $3 million contract it awarded earlier this year to K12 Inc., a for-profit company chaired by Bennett.
Bennett is a key player in Republican politics and a leading neoconservative ideologue. In spite of revelations two years ago concerning his own multimillion-dollar gambling habit, he still postures as a moral instructor to the nation. It is a lucrative calling, bringing in money from right-wing foundations like those of Richard Mellon Scaife and John M. Olin, as well as retainers from broadcast news networks anxious to air his reactionary opinions.
On his radio broadcast Wednesday, he said:
“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.”
He continued: “That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.”
Bush’s press secretary issued a terse statement declaring, “The president believes the comments were not appropriate.” The Republican Party responded in almost identical terms.
Bennett himself defended his remarks, calling them “a thought experiment about public policy.”
“I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition,” he said.
Such “thought experiments” and “hypothetical propositions” have a long and repellent history. Theories about “racial hygiene” and eugenics as a means of curing social problems were widely discussed in right-wing political and academic circles before they were implemented as a policy of mass extermination in Nazi Germany.
Significantly, Bennett in his defense tied his comments directly to the social catastrophe unleashed upon New Orleans and its predominantly black and poor population in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“There was a lot of discussion about race and crime in New Orleans,” he told ABC news. “There was discussion—a lot of it wrong—but nevertheless, media jumping on stories about looting and shooting, and roving gangs and so on.
Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/benn-o03.shtml
Bennett is a key player in Republican politics and a leading neoconservative ideologue. In spite of revelations two years ago concerning his own multimillion-dollar gambling habit, he still postures as a moral instructor to the nation. It is a lucrative calling, bringing in money from right-wing foundations like those of Richard Mellon Scaife and John M. Olin, as well as retainers from broadcast news networks anxious to air his reactionary opinions.
On his radio broadcast Wednesday, he said:
“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.”
He continued: “That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.”
Bush’s press secretary issued a terse statement declaring, “The president believes the comments were not appropriate.” The Republican Party responded in almost identical terms.
Bennett himself defended his remarks, calling them “a thought experiment about public policy.”
“I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition,” he said.
Such “thought experiments” and “hypothetical propositions” have a long and repellent history. Theories about “racial hygiene” and eugenics as a means of curing social problems were widely discussed in right-wing political and academic circles before they were implemented as a policy of mass extermination in Nazi Germany.
Significantly, Bennett in his defense tied his comments directly to the social catastrophe unleashed upon New Orleans and its predominantly black and poor population in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“There was a lot of discussion about race and crime in New Orleans,” he told ABC news. “There was discussion—a lot of it wrong—but nevertheless, media jumping on stories about looting and shooting, and roving gangs and so on.
Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/benn-o03.shtml
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Editor -- I am a staunchly pro-choice woman engaged with expanding women's reproductive options. Bill Bennett's classically anti-choice comments should wake folks up to the incredible duplicity and hypocrisy of the "pro-life" movement ("Radio abortion comment sets off apology demands,'' Sept. 30). Anti-choice pundits and politicians maintain their ability to control the act of abortion, "which they will use as they see fit," through controlling the discourse and popular understanding of the act of abortion.
To women who have had abortions (such as myself), this is the latest dismaying example of how we can be unwittingly characterized as agents of genocide. The lesson for us is clear. If you are pro-choice, and especially if you have had an abortion, you need to define that act yourself. Or it will be done for you.
ELIZABETH CREELY
San Francisco