Speaking on his daily radio show, William Bennett, education secretary
under Ronald Reagan and drugs czar under the first George Bush, said:
"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 went on to qualify his comments, which were made in response to a
hypothesis that linked the falling crime rate to a rising abortion rate.
Aborting black babies, he continued, would be "a possible, moral thing
to do, and the crime rate would go down".

Mr Bennett subsequently defended his words, saying that it should not be
taboo to talk about race and crime. "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.

"There's no question this is on our minds," he added. "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."

Mr Bennett served as chairman of the National Endowment for the
Humanities under Reagan from 1981-85, and as secretary of education from
1985-88. He became "drug czar" under the first President Bush in 1989.

Since leaving government in 1990, Mr Bennett has built a career as an
author and public figure promoting conservative values. He has written
or co-authored a string of highly successful books including five on
virtues and faith for children and young people.

His most recent books include, The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the
Assault on American Ideals; and Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War
on Terrorism.

--
Rowland Butter (neé Croucher)
Croucher Rs-lickin GmbH (Zürich)

http://rowlandcroucher.chelmsfordbaptist.com/