Voces

Role Reversal
I have a comment about the column by Ruben Navarrette, Jr. published in the June/July issue. The report was about two teenage boys who murdered a Mexican immigrant and were then acquitted. Obviously, this is a race-based crime, but where is our humanity? All people deserve to live. Nobody wants to die, especially at the hands of their fellow man. Murder comes with a price, and these boys should pay for their crime, period. What would have happened if the tables were turned and immigrants murdered the boys? I think you know the answer.
Beth Mendoza-Ochoa
Phoenix, Arizona

A Family Affront
Be careful what you print. In June/July issue (Panorama) your article discussed the record number of unmarried women in the United States having babies. In this article you quoted Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas “not to present single motherhood as a problem.” This is indeed a huge problem, especially for Hispanics. Though I applaud a woman’s strength and courage to keep the baby and not have an abortion, I must point out that “single motherhood” dramatically increases the chances of individuals living in poverty.
As Hispanics we also need to look at the breakdown of the familia. Study after study shows that a child needs a mother and a father. In promoting unmarried women, you add to the [dissolution] of the family unit. In doing so, this will only lead to greater social problems.
Daniel Bañuelos
Fort Collins, Colorado

Your family column entitled “the New Mommy” contained the idea that single motherhood should not be presented as a problem and that we should have “social systems in place to support their decision.” It made me furious to see you advocate single parenting as a responsible decision. For the children involved, it is a disaster.
I am a private practice therapist and see the consequences daily of underage, irresponsible parents who had unprotected sex without thinking about their ability to pay for feeding, educating, and appropriately guiding the babies that result. Research has shown that children raised by single mothers live more often in poverty, are less confident and emotionally resistant, do less well in school and have a higher incidence of mental disorders than children raised in two-parent homes.
Young Hispanic women need to take responsibility for their ability to reproduce and should not expect tax payers to fund “social support systems” for them and their children.
Linda Joan Lipp, M.S. LMFT
West Hills, California

Correction:
In the Panorama section of the June/July 2009 edition, an organization was named incorrectly. The correct name of the organization is the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, not the National Latina Health Institute. We regret the error.

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