Politics and Culture with Brandon Whitney
President Kwame Kilpatrick
America is a different place than it was forty years ago. A parent can tell his young African American children that they can be anything, even president of the United States and really mean it. Kwame is a young African American politician. He has charisma, is extremely well spoken, and connects emotionally with the people he leads. He had the potential to go all the way if he had kept his nose clean. Instead he has been indicted for perjury because he lied about sleeping with his married chief of staff.
It is easy to be angry at Kwame for his foolish mistakes. I'm sure a lot of people are. But I feel mostly disappointment. The child of a political dynasty, Kwame had connections; he could have gone very far in politics and generated policies that would have been beneficial to Detroit and to the nation. He was the first of the young African American politicians to gain power and generated great excitement when he became mayor. Unfortunately, despite his youth, he held onto the machine and entitlement politics and has hurt an already crippled city.
Kwame Kilpatrick is an example of what happens when potential and ability are not tempered by humility and love for the people. As we choose our politicians, our leaders, it is important that we look beyond the surface and really try and understand what motivates them. Charisma is important, but character is as well. Hopefully Detroit's next mayor will have both.
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