Bill Bennett, Racist

I wanted to post about Bill Bennett's comments. But I could not say anything more elegant than was posted on The Republic of T :

As an African American father of an African American son, it makes me bone weary to consider how prevalent the attitudes above still are, and that they’re so close to the surface that they slip through in unguarded moments like the Bennett moment.

It’s not a far leap to understanding that many Americans — even if they would never dream of saying so in public — silently agree with Bennett’s basic sentiment. Why? Because it was surprisingly easy for even some well-known liberal bloggers to come to Bennett’s defense. That makes it all to clear just how deep thinking like Bennett’s goes.

Damn. That exactly what I wanted to say (except for the part about being African American, a father, and having a son).

I know that I occasionally over react to racism. I accept that. I'm a white, middle class woman, who has a Black (ok 1/2 black) daughter. I never saw the racism that exists in this country. Of course, I heard the news reports of horrible things done to blacks, but I believed they were the exception. Something that happened somewhere else.

My daughter changed all that. The first time I heard that she was called the N word, I was homicidal. How dare anyone use that for my child! Luckily, being a liberal who doesn't like guns, there were none available to me. If there were, there would be one less racist in the world. That was how angry I was. Ok, I honestly wouldn't know what end of a gun to use, but you get the idea.

I used to be able to blow off people who I thought were stupid. Now I feel I must confront them. It's the "mother-bear" in me.

Now, while I acknowledge that I am hypersensitive to racists remarks, Mr. Bennett's comments are beyond belief. He did backtrack on the abortion thing. But he did not on the idea that blacks = crime. How can we let someone on the public airwaves speak like this? It just reinforces the racist ideas.