A Conservative Response to the LA Riots (1992)

Many conservatives looked at the chaos that engulfed Los Angeles and saw evidence that liberal social policies had failed the inner-city. They believed that, without proper moral instruction or a sense of ownership in their communities, the underclass was prone to the kind of disorder seen during the LA riots. In their view, the War on Poverty and related welfare programs encouraged a culture of dependency among the urban poor. Specifically, conservatives blamed the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program for breaking down the traditional family. They claimed that the AFDC, by providing government aid to single mothers, encouraged women to raise children out of wedlock. Jack Kemp, the Republican secretary of Housing and Urban Development, channels some of these views on The MacNeil/Lehrer PBS NewsHour.

The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour | NewsHour Productions : Washington D.C. | May 04, 1992 This video clip and associated transcript appear from 19:50 - 23:59 in the full record.