There are only a few cases where charges of political corruption will warrant my coming to the defense of a black elected official. The case of Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is not one of them.
Last week, Kilpatrick (nicknamed the Hip-Hop Mayor) was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for his conviction of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes – crimes against the people of Detroit who were already in dire straits when Kilpatrick became the city’s youngest mayor in 2002. He served for mayor a little more than six years before having to resign in the midst of one of the biggest sex and corruption scandals the city had ever witnessed. This was the prelude to the big investigation by the feds. Corruption, murder, sex, infidelity –Kwame’s real-life actions could put TV’s Scandal to shame.
Bernard Kilpatrick, Kwame’s father, is said to have broken down in tears when Judge Nancy Edmunds read the sentence. I don’t know if it was because Bernard felt remorse for his enabling role in his son’s demise or if he realized that he, too, was also on his way to the slammer. The elder Kilpatrick and two others are all part of the conspiracy charges that accelerated the Motor City’s decades-in-the-making financial woes.
At the heart of the corruption charges is a pay-to-play scheme that led to a number of black businesses being forced out of business because they couldn’t afford to play the Kilpatricks’ high-stakes game. Kwame lived large, traveling around the country in private jets and dressing in expensive suits. Most despicable, Kilpatrick used money from his charitable organizations, which were created to help distressed Detroit residents, to pay for his playthings.
Residents of the city were optimistic when the young mayor from a well-known and politically connected family was elected. That hope was dashed as Kwame’s tenure pushed the city to the brink of financial disaster and brought unwanted negative publicity to an already dismal reputation.
After the first corruption charge and prison sentence, Kwame moved his family to Texas, where the family continued their lavish lifestyle. The narcissist who once claimed to have been chosen by God to lead the city didn’t even have the fortitude to stay and face the people of Detroit, maybe even help address some of the problems he created. Coward.
Many city services in Detroit are either nonexistent or sporadic, including emergency services like police and ambulances. Neighborhoods are being forced to create their own systems for survival.
When 20,000 of us converged on Detroit for the 2010 U.S. Social Forum, we witnessed exactly that. People are in the fight of their lives and, despite the oppressive conditions created by the Haves for the Have-Nots, they are desperately trying to carve out ways to feed, clothe and house themselves and to educate their children.
Earlier this year, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Kevyn Orr as emergency manager of Detroit, a hotly contested move, despite his race; Detroiters have gotten over the phenomenon of black faces in high places. Orr’s annual salary is $275,000, and his solution to the city’s financial instability is to file bankruptcy. His remedy could see Detroit’s assets, like the airport, Belle Isle and even collections from Detroit Institute of Arts, go to the highest bidders.
We don’t know what’s in store for the city of Detroit, but the Fitzgerald House of Cards continues to crumble. Father and son are on their way to prison, and Kwame’s wife, Carlita, is now unemployed. The former First Lady of Detroit and recipient of thousands of dollars in kickbacks was just fired from her $41K job in Duncanville, TX after unreported cash money was found in her office desk drawer.
This is a sad but fitting epilogue for a family that allowed their greed for more power and money to consume them. My heart goes out to their children and to the citizens of Detroit for the rough days ahead.
