few topics that raised my eyebrows and turned my stomach. When
asked what the candidates would do to reduce crime in inner cities,
Mitt Romney responded with an adorable answer.
My paraphrase of his response is: “The best thing you can do for
a kid is to have a mom and a dad. It’s time in this country that
we go back to the values that allow kids to have moms and dads. 68
% of African American kids are born out of wedlock; the war in the
inner cities can be solved if there were more moms and dads.”
I don’t know how much more blatant he could be on his opinion of
families that weren’t made of that magical “Mom and Dad” mix.
Is it the worst thing to have a mom and a mom? A dad and a dad?
There is certainly no need to make one family makeup more important
than another –especially in response to a question about inner
city crime (unless of course you are wholeheartedly
discriminatory). Is it an assumption that kids born out of wedlock
are so ‘disturbed’ and ‘distraught’ that they become the
root of inner city crime? Oh I think so. Maybe inner city crime
rates are due to policing strategies, money and resources in
schools, a lack of after-school programs—not a gold ring or
two.
Perhaps what Romney MEANT to say was the following: “The best
thing for a child is to have a strong family. It’s time in this
country that we go back to the values that allow kids to have a
loving family—no matter what the constellation may be. The
majority of our children today are born into diverse family
forms—but they are all built on love.”
Glad I could interpret for you Mitt.