George Romney is one of the people who inspired me to activism, and I have been an activist for over 50 years. When I was 8, my family lived in Palo Alto, Calif. There were issues that concerned us at a neighborhood level, as well as the national level. My parents were involved in campaigns, and I loved helping them.
I remember hearing about George Romney’s work, especially concerning fair housing and civil rights. His name came up as one who stood up to the racist policies of the past and took — at the time, unpopular — steps to confront and overturn laws that impeded fair housing.