Baltimore

You're complicating the question quite needlessly. Married parents is far and away the best option for the children.

 

It's quite possible that some of the police involved in the situation that sparked all of this were raised by two married parents.

 

Once more with feeling...

The chances of having two parents involved in their children's upbringing in a positive, constructive and meaningful way are far, far greater if those two parents are married to each other than if they are not.

Gotta admit I haven't looked up any studies on that, but is there really any dispute that is the case?

 

What if one of the parents is a Gypsy and the other one used to be gay?

What if one of the parents plays roller hockey?

What if one of the parents watches an inordinate amount of professional wrestling?

There's just no way to tell, really.

 

I found this, which says pretty much that kids need two parents, and that kids with single parents are at a disadvantage.

But, it also says that there is a difference between a family that has cohabitation with one biological parent and non-related adult, and cohabitation between the two biological parents. In it, it says school achievement and behavioral problems are similar among kids living with two cohabitation parents regardless of marital status (page 5).

It also says that kids who grow up in married families with high conflict may experience as many problems as children of divorced or never married parents (page 7).

The conclusion of it says that kids are better off with a married couple in a low-conflict relationship as opposed to other types of families. But, it's not a guarantee, and the quality of the relationship is what matters.

http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/states/0086.pdf

So, in other words, it's a mixed bag. What kids need is two loving parents. The piece of paper may not be necessary if the parents are living together and getting along fine, but it can help, as long as the parents aren't in high conflict.

 

I have no doubt that Lena Dunham was raised by two loving parents in a committed marital relationship.

 

But were they human?

 

I'm sure none of the stuff in these pieces are racist:

Baltimore parents and cops

The problem is not black skin, it is suicidal American black culture

Baltimore riots

 

What if one of the parents is on sj.com all the time?

 

Does this guy deserve a sympathetic WaPo profile?

The lede:

Andre Hunt counseled troubled kids through the Boys and Girls Club. He volunteered at the local NAACP chapter. A barber, he befriended the son of an assistant high school principal, swapping tales of football and life while the boy grew into adulthood under the clips of his sheers.

“He was like a big brother to my son,” the mother, Karima Carrington, said of her trips to Cut Masters on Liberty Heights Avenue.


The 28-year-old Hunt was lured out of the barber shop, according to his attorney, and shot in the back of the head on the afternoon of April 29. He was among more than 30 people slain in Baltimore in 30 days, an alarming number of killings that are part of an undercurrent of violence here.

Sounds like a great guy. How could this have happened?

Hunt’s friends believe the barber’s death is linked to his former position as a middleman in this city’s lucrative heroin trade. He was shot a month after he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for distributing drugs in Gray’s neighborhood, and 10 days before his attorney said he planned to report to serve his term.
...
Hunt bought heroin wholesale and sold to street-level pushers working West Baltimore’s Gilmor Homes and its isolated courtyards between strips of drab public housing.
...
Hunt’s nickname was “Cousin,” due to the family connections that put him in easy reach of large amounts of drugs. He worked out of a stash house in Reservoir Hill, a neighborhood just above the intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues that was the epicenter of the riots.

In his plea agreement in federal court, Hunt admitted they poured drugs into Gilmor Homes. Business was brisk. In one car stop of Hunt, police reported finding 50,000 empty yellow zip-top bags typically used to package drugs for streets sales. Inside the Reservoir Hill house, police found 1.6 kilograms of heroin and a .357 magnum revolver.

Baltimore’s riots drew attention, but endemic violence is hardly noticed - The Washington Post

 

It is possible that they were married to each other

 

Just an update:

Baltimore gets bloodier as arrests drop post-Freddie Gray - Yahoo News