Delano Squires Nukes the War on Marriage [WATCH]

Author Delano Squires argued that rebuilding marriage and strengthening families should become a national priority, saying cultural, political and institutional changes are necessary to improve outcomes for children and communities.

During a discussion with Glenn Beck about Squires’ book The Vanishing Black Family, the two examined the cultural pressures surrounding marriage, particularly among young adults, and discussed what Squires described as the need for a broader “family reconstruction” movement.

Beck opened the conversation by describing what he sees as a cultural environment that discourages young people from marrying early in adulthood.

“The culture today is pushes against, Wait, you’re in college and you’re going to get married? What is wrong with you? I mean, that is such a big boulder to push out of the way.”

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Squires responded by pointing to several colleges where he believes marriage and long-term relationships are viewed more positively.

“It is. Now, I could think of, you talked about BYU, I know graduates from Hillsdale, Liberty University.”

He also described a recent conversation with an intern at The Heritage Foundation.

“I talked to an intern at Heritage the other day. She said she estimated about 55% of her classmates are either in long-term relationships, engaged, or married by the time they finish their undergraduate studies.”

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According to Squires, the intern told him that environment creates social expectations favoring marriage.

“Excellent. And she said it actually creates pressure on those who are not.”

Squires said he would welcome similar circumstances at historically Black colleges and universities.

“And I said, Oh boy, I would love that problem at at HBCUs. I would love to deal with that problem.”

He argued that strengthening marriage requires both institutional and individual efforts.

“So yeah, so it there’s an institutional response.”

Squires said one aspect of his book focuses on what he views as political barriers to increasing marriage rates.

“One of the things that makes this book different than than anything else that people have seen is that I also name the political obstacles to a marriage revival movement.”

He identified several groups that he believes oppose those efforts.

“Obviously, they include feminists, they include LGBT activists, they include abortionists because Planned Parenthood understands that close to 90% of women who seek abortions are unmarried. So, more marriage means less business for for Planned Parenthood.”

Squires also criticized what he described as a preference among some policymakers for expanding government programs instead of strengthening families.

“They they they also include big government liberals because for them the answer is not, you know, a different and stronger family structure. For them, it’s always more government spending to address issues in low-income communities.”

He also devoted part of the discussion to media and entertainment, arguing that popular culture has influenced attitudes toward relationships.

“And and then I I talk about the importance of media.”

Squires said decades of hip-hop culture have contributed to unhealthy relationship dynamics in some communities.

“But I argue in in that chapter, this is chapter eight of The Vanishing Black Family, that you cannot sow Snoop Dogg and reap The Cosby Show, right?”

He continued by describing what he believes has been the effect of music on perceptions of relationships.

“Because I end up, I talk about the impact of 40 plus years of hip-hop culture, 40 close to 35, 40 plus years of young men in inner-city neighborhoods who most closely identify with the artists hearing the people that they look up to referring to the young women in their community as, you know, sexually promiscuous, as all types of degrading names and terms, those things are not healthy for or are not good for healthy relationship bonds, marital relationships, or they don’t create the types of environments where where couples can thrive and and children can benefit from both parents.”

Squires said lasting cultural change will require both institutional reforms and personal responsibility.

“So, it’s an institutional response. There’s an individual response.”

He concluded by arguing that discussions about family should focus primarily on children rather than adults.

“But the biggest thing that I that I argue is that we have to reframe the issue of family reconstruction, and this goes for Americans across the board, not just in the black community.”

Squires explained that his proposed framework centers on children’s needs.

“But we have to reframe the issue of family reconstruction away from the desires of adults and towards the rights and needs of children, specifically the idea that children have a right to the affection, protection, connection, correction, and direction of the one man and one woman that created them, and that that right is best exercised in a loving, low-conflict home.”

He said that message should become the foundation for broader cultural efforts.