Steve Russell: Mitt Romney can't recall an old bullying incident

Tuesday, May 15, 2012  

"We know we can’t prevent all the hurts of adolescence, but most of us now at least try to teach kindness by modeling it. When I was young, I knew that Indian elders would not tolerate any open display of meanness so—honest in my old age—I can say I was more aware of my conduct when hanging at the homes of my Indian friends as opposed to my white friends, most of whom were very fond of the N word, something I did not hear from Indian parents.

So times have changed and we could hope that Willard Mitt Romney has changed as well. We could hope that, at some point, experience turned him away from bullying just as, at some point, experience turned George W. Bush away from alcohol and cocaine.

Here’s where it gets wooly. At least five people, interviewed at different times and places, remember a bullying incident, a forced haircut with the young Willard wielding the scissors while others held down the boy who was considered “queer” because he bleached his hair and wore it long in front."

Get the Story:
Steve Russell: Willard Romney’s Wooly Bully (Indian Country Today 5/14)

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