William Bennett Cannot Outwit Adolf Hitler
That great paragon of [The Book of] Virtues, William Bennett, as everyone knows by now, has figured out how to solve the “crime” problem in the United States. “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.” What you probably didn’t hear on the TV News networks was his justification for his reprehensible comment:
What I do on our show is talk about things that people are thinking ... we don't hesitate to talk about things that are touchy. I'm sorry if people are hurt, I really am. But we can't say this is an area of American life [and] public policy that we're not allowed to talk about - race and crime.
I don’t personally know any “people” who are “thinking…about…race and crime.” Or perhaps I do, and they know enough to keep their thoughts to themselves around me. I know many people who think about “poverty and crime,” and about “racism and poverty,” and, therefore, about “racism and crime.”
Perhaps it is the leadership of the so-called Conservatives in this country who think about “race and crime.” I don’t know. Bennett, the former Secretary of Education (under Saint Ronald), and the Drug Czar (under the husband of Barbara being-homeless-“is-working-very-well-for-them” Bush) may be the only person who thinks this way, but I doubt it.
At the very least, he is not the only person in history who ever thought this way:
The question of the inner causes of the [white European’s] importance can be answered to the effect that they are to be sought less in a natural instinct of self-preservation than in the special type of its expression.... In the most primitive living creatures the instinct of self-preservation does not go beyond concern for their own ego. Egoism, as we designate this urge, goes so far that it even embraces time; the moment itself claims everything, granting nothing to the coming hours. In this condition the animal lives only for himself, seeks food only for his present hunger, and fights only for his own life. As long as the instinct of self-preservation expresses itself in this way, every basis is lacking for the formation of a group, even the most primitive form of family. Even a community between male and female beyond pure mating, demands an extension of the instinct of self-preservation, since concern and struggle for the ego are now directed toward the second party; the male sometimes seeks food for the female, too, but for the most part both seek nourishment for the young…. In the lowest peoples of the earth this quality is present only to a very slight extent, so that often they do not go beyond the formation of the family. The greater the readiness to subordinate purely personal interests, the higher rises the ability to establish comprehensive communities. This self-sacrificing will to give one's personal labor and if necessary one's own life for others is most strongly developed in the Aryan.
From Chapter XI of Mein Kampf, Vol.1, 1925, by Adolf Hitler.
2 Comments:
I think we can all agree that Hitler's logic is flawed. What I find most disturbing about Bennett's debacle is that the media consistently quoted the comments without any context. (How many times have we all postulated a ridiculous example in order to provoke response?) Transcripts show that Bennett was trying to deflect a theory that tied the crime rate to the abortion rate. His methodology exposed a nasty racist idea. Now, thanks to the out-of-context exposure given the comments, I think a lot of (white) people are nodding to each other and murmuring, "You can't deny the truth," even while acknowledging that Bennett was, at best, indiscreet. And after all the hoopla on television, the story of racism in America will quietly die again on the OpEd pages. So, even if we take Bennett’s outrageous comment out of context, it is not incendiary enough to provoke a deep, public look at the color divide. All white politicians have to do is disagree and express a little shock. Any politicians of color who might speak out will be dismissed for “overreacting.” Solutions?
You are, as usual, more level-headed and perceptive than I. However, that Bennett, knowing he is avidly followed by many, could even say such a thing---yes, I've read the transcript---no matter what the reason or how well-intentioned, and then, when it became news, refuse to say publicly and nationally, "Oh, dear, I am so sorry I said such a stupid thing that could be taken all out of context and hurt people---let's use this to have a real conversation about racism" is, as I said, reprehensible.
He has squandered his own opportunity to speak to "virtue" by hiding behind a defense of his logic.
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