theGrio

Back to the Top

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Home
  • Entertainment
    • Music
    • The Dish
  • Health
    • Ask Dr. Ty
    • Black Men’s Health
    • Black Women and Breast Cancer
    • Back to School Health
  • Living
    • Travel and Leisure
    • Living Forward
    • Books
  • Politics
    • Perry on Politics
  • Sports
  • News
    • Good News
  • Opinion

Red, Black & Blue

Mitt Romney on Bain Capital: Private equity firms don’t ‘attract many minorities and women’

by Similoluwa Ojurongbe | October 18, 2012 at 5:39 PM
Comments
Print

Related Posts

  • How Team Obama is preparing to take on Romney
  • What makes Cory Booker run? Bain Capital controversy exposes Newark mayor's ties to big money
  • Is Obama vs. Romney also Occupy Wall Street vs. Bain Capital?
  • Governor Deval Patrick calls Bain Capital a 'perfectly fine company'
  • Mitt Romney goes to war for white working class vote

Mitt Romney is still receiving backlash for his “binders full of women” comment during the second presidential debate.

According to the Huffington Post, this foot in mouth feeling surrounding women’s issues is not entirely a new one for the Massachusetts governor.

In 1994, when Romney was running for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, the Boston Globe asked him why there were so few minorities and women at Bain Capital. Ninety-five of the vice presidents at the firm were white and only nine were women. Romney’s response was that the private equity industry does not “attract many women and minorities.” His opponent, Senator Ted Kennedy, made the remark an issue in the campaign, and Romney lost women voters by more than two-to-one.

Romney also blamed the elite institutions of higher education such as Harvard School of Business where they found many of their employees. Those schools, he told the Globe, “graduate only a handful of minorities and women.”

In 1995, 28 percent of the graduating class from Harvard Business School were women and 14 percent were minorities. When Romney put together a team to head Bain, every member was white and male. The Republican insisted that he could not find “qualified” women and minorities.

Romney also said that Bain had no affirmative action program until after he left Bain, which was another reason why they had few minorities employed. But over a decade later, the photo album of their private equity team does not show a single African-American or Latino member.

“It’s shocking to me that after 25 years of experience at the very highest levels of corporate America, Mitt Romney needed our help [to find qualified women],” Jesse Mermell, one of the women who helped prepare the “binders full of women” told Huffington Post’s Jen Bendery on Wednesday.

Follow Similoluwa Ojurongbe on Twitter and simioju.com

  • President Barack Obama talks with Jon Stewart during a taping of his appearance on "The Daily Show with John Stewart", Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
    Next Story:

    Obama: No confusion over response to Libya attack

  • Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) greets Bruce Springsteen on stage during the 'Get Out The Vote' Event With Bill Clinton And Bruce Springsteen at Tri-C Western Campus Field House on October 18, 2012 in Parma, Ohio. (Photo by Duane Prokop/Getty Images)
    Previous Story:

    Springsteen and Clinton rev up Ohio’s working class for Obama

Filed in: Politics | Related Topics: Bain Capital, Barack Obama, Binders Full Of Women, Election 2012, Harvard University, Minorities, Mitt Romney, Presidential Debate, Senate, Women
  • Learn about our User Panel

    Read More
  • New Stories on theGrio

    • Serena’s Steubenville remarks stirs controversy Serena’s Steubenville remarks stirs controversy
    • Rihanna hits fan with microphone Rihanna hits fan with microphone
    • Lolo Jones’ bobsled joke backfires Lolo Jones’ bobsled joke backfires
    • Former gold medalist sprinter suspended amid probe Former gold medalist sprinter suspended amid probe
    • Is Kanye getting a pass for sexism?
    • Meagan Good stars in ‘Anchorman 2′
    • Where affirmative action will survive
    • Rand Paul makes a play for black voters
  • What Your Friends Are Reading

  • More from theGrio

More Stories on theGrio

Top News

Politics

  • US First Lady Michelle Obama waves after her husband US President Barack Obama delivered a keynote address ahead of the G-8 summit at Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/ Paul Faith, Pool)

    First lady inspires youth of Ireland

  • Obama rejects Bush comparisons

  • White House threatens veto of bill with food stamps cuts

  • Polls: Obama ratings start to slip

» Read More in Politics

Business

  • Jay-Z (YouTube)

    Jay-Z announces new album

  • Dunkin' Donuts: Workers who endured racist rant will be 'honored'

  • Greene Scholars seeks to place black youth in STEM jobs

  • 29-year-old hedge fund boss preying on African-Americans arrested

» Read More in Business

Living

  • People come out of their homes to a flooded street after Hurricane Katrina hit the area with heavy wind and rain August 29, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Katrina was down graded to a category 4 storm as it approached New Orleans. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

    Climate change vs. black America

  • Serena Williams works teeny bikini on Miami Beach

  • Daughter inspires mom's natural hair care company

  • Dad to son: A secret to get ahead

» Read More in Living

Inspiration

  • Ethel “Ellie” Hylton

    Woman graduates with highest GPA at Harvard

  • Adele honored by Queen Elizabeth II

  • Man finds father through Facebook

  • South Africa's interracial couples

» Read More in Inspiration

Entertainment

  • Bill Cosby and his late son, Ennis Cosby (Facebook)

    Cosby pays tribute to his late son

  • Beyoncé, video game company settle lawsuit

  • New film explores 'How to Make Money Selling Drugs’

  • 'Sesame Street' on parents in prison

» Read More in Entertainment

News

  • Austin Phillips (left) and Austin Romain (right) (NBC New York)

    Officers allegedly sell inmates drugs

  • Trayvon Martin case haunted by Emmett Till

  • Woman sentenced to death at 16 is freed

  • Chad Johnson released from jail after butt-slap

» Read More in News

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Politics
  • Living
  • Video
  • Inspire
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • News
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with TheGrio
  • About
©2013 NBCUniversal
Powered by WordPress.com VIP