Posted on 09/15/2008 12:55:54 PM PDT by Osage Orange
Fri September 12, 2008
Defending The Indefensible
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
The Miami Herald
If Kwame Kilpatrick were white, don't you think he'd have been thrown out of office a long time ago? Heck, he'd be out of jail by now and shopping his memoirs.
Instead, it was just last week, after a year of scandal and revelation that has paralyzed his city and made it the punchline to an international joke, that Detroit's mayor surrendered his office and copped a plea: 120 days in jail, five years probation and a $1 million fine. Because, you see, Kilpatrick is not white, he is black in a city that is itself over 80 percent black. And that complicated things.
For instance, it led to undeserved support from the local black paper.
And to a massive rally for him at a black church.
And to black people blaming the media for "bringing down” a gifted black man.
And to a political consultant calling the case, "Jim Crow justice.”
And to Kilpatrick repeatedly portraying himself as a victim of racial politics and a "lynch mob mentality.”
All the claims of racial solidarity and victimization gave Kilpatrick what Eliot Spitzer could never have imagined: a base from which to dig in his heels and declare he would not be moved.
If you didn't know better, you might have thought this was Birmingham in 1963 or Montgomery in ‘55, with strains of "We Shall Overcome” ringing in the air. You'd never know it was Detroit in 2008 where the issue wasn't desegregation or human dignity but, rather, a mayor who had an extramarital affair with his chief of staff, fired police who came too close to discovering it, lied about it under oath, agreed to an $8.4 million payoff to keep police from releasing explicit text messages proving the affair and, for good measure, shoved a sheriff's deputy trying to serve a subpoena to someone else in an unrelated matter.
Racial victimization? Jim Crow justice? Give me a break.
In an April column, I excoriated the mayor for playing upon African America's reflexive tendency to rally in defense of any one of us who gets in trouble. But that's only part of the problem here. It's not just that someone played black folks, but that black folks keep letting themselves be played.
Truth is, we get played like checkers any time any high-profile one of us is caught in scandal or sin. From Michael Jackson to O.J. Simpson to Tawana Brawley to Mike Tyson to Marion Barry to Kilpatrick, lying his natural backside off in court, we keep proving pathetically susceptible to manipulation by any brother or sister who says white folks have done him or her wrong — especially if they invoke God a few times for good measure.
There's an axiom that goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. But what about fool me 87 times? What about, fool me like the nerdy kid with the "kick me” sign taped to his back?
What happens when you get fooled like that? I'll tell you what should happen. You should say, Enough. You should evolve the social and political maturity, the common sense and the plain self-respect to stop letting yourself be used like a dishrag.
African-Americans — and, for that matter, all people of conscience — have a moral responsibility to stand up for those who truly are victims of racial injustice. In defending those people, we should be unstinting and unwavering.
We should not, however, be unthinking. We should stop falling into the easy trap of believing every black man in trouble is a victim of racial malfeasance. Sometimes, a black man in trouble is a victim of his own malfeasance. If more black folks in Motown had understood this, the city might not have spent the last year embarrassing itself.
For centuries, African-Americans have struggled to teach white people that black does not mean guilt. Frankly, it's high time we ourselves learned a corresponding truth.
It doesn't mean innocence, either.
I don’t agree with Mr. Pitts very often....but he is absolutely spot on here.
Pitts wrote some very good stuff immediately following 911, but if you followed him, you could see his slow descent back into liberal fantasy land.
Here, he comes up for air, and nails it, but I doubt it lasts.
jw
BTW, it was Pitts who came out with that "You unspeakable bastards" column, right after 911. It was very well received here.
I can honestly say that this is not the article I expected when I saw the title of the post - but I bit anyways... I'm probably still on the opposite side of Mr. Pitts on most of his articles - but I salute him for his ability to see through the fog, and our natural biases, and stand for what is right on this one
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
That being said....he nailed this.
Although I do think he wears blinders while being myopic on the bulk of his preferred subjects.
No worry up there.
Kwame’s Mommy “Cheeks”, another distinguished Michigan politician, is looking good for her congressional seat.
Pitts writes a good one every now and then.................
Your doubts are real.
You get the leaders you deserve. One person, one vote. I have little sympathy for the citizens of Detroit. They bring it upon themselves.
Neither did I.....and I was surprised as you.
Don't mean he will inspire me the next time though....ha!!
He seems to swerve like a drunk walking home...into the truth now and again.
FWIW-
If he was White he would have never gotten elected to begin with.
...He could've added a few others to the list, like former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, and former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode. They did little or nothing to help lower crime or unemployment in their respective cities.
I'll say this much: It's a good thing Rudy was on watch in New York when 9/11 went down.
This line speaks volumes to me...about how Obama has manipulated his "black" fellow Americans.
Not to mention his "white" fellow Americans.
Very good article!
It will be interesting to see how the Kilpatrick fiasco will affect the Presidential election in Michigan. From an article I read (in Newsweek I think) the dynamics could be very complex.
On the one hand, Kwame had about a 2% approval rating outside of Detroit and a 527 group has been running an ad with Obama endorsing him and calling him a friend, while the counts of the indictment, scroll in front of Kilpatrick’s face.
On the other hand, as Pitts points out there is still a lot of knee jerk support for Kilpatrick in Detroit.
However, with his conviction the Democrat machine in Detroit is in disarray and might not be able to be effective in GOTV. (IOW, Barry might have to count exclusively on the votes of actual living citizens of Detroit.)
It was also pointed out that some of the same fools who still support Kilpatrick might not turn out to vote for Zerobama, because they believe he stabbed Kwame in the back, by calling for his resignation about 10 minutes (okay, maybe 48 hours) before the plea bargain was announced.
All things considered I think this has to favor McCain/Palin.
You made it look like Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote this.
You almost had me Osage... almost had me.
Owl_Eagle
There are people who are surrounded by bigots
and know it is wrong, but are afraid to be vocal against it.
These people are going to pull the lever for Obama
and they are not being polled.
angee_is_mad, DUmmy
Nice post!
As for Pitts: A stopped watch is right twice per day.
ROFLOL!!
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