What do Black Twitter and Mitt Romney have in common? Little Kieran. The internet was buzzing last week when Mitt Romney tweeted this message:
“Our 22nd grandchild was officially adopted today: Kieran James Romney. cc: @AnnDRomney.”
He didn’t say specifically which one of his sons adopted Kieran; but this is Andelynne Romney, the wife of his son Ben Romney, holding the boy.
The only words I can think of to describe little Kieran is “Squeee!” He is just too precious. He literally looks like Pooh Bear in human form. His fat toes, chubby cheeks and happy baby smile–I just can’t take it. He.is.so.cute!
But you know how people are these days. It’s not enough just to look at an adorable baby. People immediately started speculating about what type of life he’s going to have growing up with the Romneys, who are known for being severely out of touch when it comes to the poor and minority communities. And I’m not going to lie I was among them. My friend even texted me saying she said a serious prayer after she saw the picture. While I’m willing to bet the Romney family will love little Kieran, I do hope they don’t go the “colorblind” route in raising this black boy, in a privileged, white family. I hope they really instill a source of cultural and racial pride in him. And I hope they teach him to be compassionate to people who may have less than him financially, which unfortunately, in many cases will be people who look like him. We’ll just have to see what’s in store for this one.
Others had an issue with Kieran’s name.
If you look it up, on several different sites, you’ll find Kieran means “black” or “little dark one,” or “dark skinned.” Now that’s interesting. I really wonder if the Romney’s named him. He could have been given a name before he was adopted. He’s clearly a few months old and it would a bit odd not to have a name at this point. Though, it is plausible that they could have changed it. Kieran is not necessarily a new name. Macaulay Culkin’s brother, who is also an actor, is named Kieran. Maybe they were inspired by him. I would hate to think they adopted this little one only to potentially make him feel like an outsider by essentially calling him black. Or I could be looking at it the wrong way. Maybe they named him that so he’d have a connection to his culture. Either way, it’s certainly something that makes you go hmmm.
What do you think about this adoption and the name Kieran?
