July 8, at the Colorado Springs City Council meeting, I witnessed something that rocked me to my core. During the public comment period about a proposed affordable housing development at Sand Creek – near North Carefree Circle and Peterson Road – a member of the public stood and delivered a sweeping, discriminatory commentary of single mothers.
He claimed that households headed by single moms “demonstrably produce the majority of social ills in our society today, like crime, delinquency, educational failure, drug addiction, and sexual confusion.” According to him, the problem isn’t financial hardship or lack of opportunity – it’s the absence of a father.
He went on to say, “We don’t want the crime and attendant social ills that plague fatherless households” in his neighborhood. He cited data from various sources, including the Census Bureau and nonprofit organizations, and offered to share it with the Council…