I can't really say I'm surprised...

Former NEH head, Secretary of Education, Drug Czar, and big time gambler -- and self-appointed morality expert -- William Bennett has "stirred the pot" with some outrageous comments:

Bennett, who held prominent posts in the administrations of former presidents
Ronald Reagan and George Bush, 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."

Perhaps understanding he'd said too much, especially for the irony impaired listeners who are endemic to talk radio, he tried a bit of a backtrack:

"That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do,
but your crime rate would go down," he said.

Well, at least he doesn't actually advocate this method of crime control. However, that's beside the point. The actual point is his premise: that aborting every Black baby -- essentially eliminating within a generation all Blacks in the USA -- would reduce the crime rate. In Bennett's mind, apparently, crime is tied to race -- certain races are more prone to crime. It's an interesting proposition and shows just how little the Republican Party has grown since the Civil Rights movement.

These arguments have been heard before. In the nineteenth century, it was the Irish who were causing all the crime. In the early 20th century, the Italians got their turn (and of course, the popularity of the Godfather series and the Sopranos shows how that stereotype continues to hold currency).

I would submit a counterproposal to William Bennett. I would propose that poverty and limited opportunity breed crime; although the obvious counterargument would be the recent business scandals, where fabulously wealthy white guys bilked investors of billions...Ebbers, Lay, Kozlowski...or where fabulously wealthy white guys bilk the American public out of billions of dollars and close to 2000 American lives...but as far as "crime rate" is concerned, this handful of high profile crimes, which cost the US government and public more than all the people convicted of possessing marijuana combined, only amount to, well, a handful of crimes.

To sum up: Bennett's logic is ridiculous because it comes nowhere toward understanding the crime rate. He might as well take a look at the prison rolls and realize they're mostly men and advocate for the abortion of all male babies. Or better yet he could note that crime rates are higher in urban centers and advocate for the immediate execution of all people within 10 miles of cities...

Key lessons of statistics 101: you have to test for correlation, reliability, and VALIDITY. Mr. Bennett, please retake the class in the spring.