Monday, October 3, 2005

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...WS01/510030344

Bennett delays speech at UC
Abortion comment raises a furor

By Christy Arnold
Enquirer staff writer



Former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, under fire for remarks about aborting black children, has canceled a scheduled appearance at the University of Cincinnati this week because of the resulting backlash.

"The current controversy that has arisen around comments I made on my radio show, based on a willful distortion of what I said, will take away from the serious discussion I want to engage in with the students and community at the University of Cincinnati," Bennett said in a statement released Sunday by the UC College Republicans.

The student group was sponsoring Bennett's speech, which was scheduled for Tuesday night.

UC College Democrats planned to protest Bennett's address at the Tangeman University Center after hearing about Bennett's comments Wednesday on his radio show, "Morning in America."

Bennett replied to a caller, who suggested abortions have led to a decrease in tax revenue, by saying:

"I do know that it's true 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.

"That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

Bennett also is canceling a reception that Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich planned Tuesday. Both events, including the reception which 100 to 150 people were expected to attend, were scheduled before last week's radio show episode.

Heimlich said some reporters distorted Bennett's remarks.

"I feel this whole controversy was really not a problem with Dr. Bennett; it was a press problem," Heimlich said.

UC College Republicans and Heimlich plan to reschedule the Bennett events.

Kevin Welch, chairman of UC College Republicans, called the cancellation "disappointing," but said Bennett plans to appear at UC next month.

Welch said he and the UC parent who was paying for the appearance are committed to bringing Bennett to the campus.

"It will be bigger and better," Welch said.

Erich Streckfuss, UC College Democrats president, said he was pleased to hear about the cancellation, but wished his GOP counterparts at the university had stopped the event - not Bennett.

College Democrats plan to protest Bennett's rescheduled appearance.

"We will be there wherever and whenever he comes back to Cincinnati and the campus," Streckfuss said.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Democratic leaders criticized Bennett's comments and demanded an apology.

Bennett told Fox News the following day that his remarks were twisted, calling the notion of aborting black babies to reduce crime, "a monstrous idea."

He also issued a statement Friday, trying, once again, to say that he doesn't support the elimination of black babies.

Still, his words attracted criticism from Capitol Hill to the White House, where Bennett served as the education secretary under President Reagan and as the drug czar under former President George H.W. Bush.

"At the very time our country yearns for national unity in the wake of hurricane Katrina, these comments reflect a spirit of hate and division," Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., said in a statement.

President Bush also found Bennett's comments inappropriate, according to White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

The Associated Press contributed. E-mail carnold@enquirer.com