Detroit mayor plays the race card

[M0RPH]

For those of you who haven't followed this, here's what's happened. The mayor of Detroit was basically using some police officers as his personal bodyguard squad. Some police officers tried to speak out against it and were fired. They sued the city and ended up getting huge settlements to keep quiet.

Later it was discovered that Mayor Kilpatrick lied on oath during the court proceedings and also had an affair with his chief of staff, as shown in text messages released to the public. He also allegedly had a stripper party at the mayor's mansion and may be involved with the murder of a stripper days later. Naturally, he has been under pressure to resign and has been hounded by the press. So what does he do? Well, he brazenly plays the race card.

The video is on this page, you really should check it out. He even uses the N word.
http://www.wxyz.com/mostpopula...4daf-8e8f-0fa68dbae493
Notice also how much of the predominently black audience gets behind him. I think this is a sad commentary on race relations in this country. This, along with the racial stuff going down in the Clinton-Obama election, particularly the angry speeches from his minister, really shows that there's still a big divide between blacks and whites in this country. And blacks are as much to blame as anyone else for provoking this festering bad-blood.

 

[ultra laser]

Blacks support other Blacks regardless of the crime. Actually, knowing that he's acted in a such a manner, they probably like him more.

 

[Corbett]

The reason the crowd agrees with him is because the event was by invitation only. He used the event as a PR stunt by only inviting people who would support his POV. Only problem is, it completely backfired. The entire Metro-Detroit area can see right through this guy.

He's backed himself into a corner, so he's decided to play both the race card and the victim card when it was his own actions that brought him into this very position.

 

[BarneyFife]

Yup. Living in the area myself, the people of Detroit are trash. They don't shovel their snow, don't cut the grass, don't look after their homes. They are a disgrace to society. They define the term ghetto.

From watching tv/listening to the radio, the majority of black people support him and he's even more popular than he was pre-scandal. Black people will call in and say he's made a mistake and thats ok, a conspiracy is being created by the white people to take over the city, its none of our business and its a private matter etc... Mark my words. If the FBI doesn't step in and do something, he will continue to run the city as a thug and do whatever he wants because the people that live in Detroit are fucking morons and support that type of behaivor.

 

[ultra laser]

There's a reason Africa is such a shithole: it's full of Africans. If you take Africans and put them in a new environment like, let's say, Detroit, they will inevitably turn it into Africa. For people are not the product of their surroundings; rather, surrounding are a product of the people.

 

[babylon5]

oh boy

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: ultra laser
There's a reason Africa is such a shithole: it's full of Africans. If you take Africans and put them in a new environment like, let's say, Detroit, they will inevitably turn it into Africa. For people are not the product of their surroundings; rather, surrounding are a product of the people.

If I were to take such a simplistic view of things, as you have, I'd call you a fucking idiot. But I see why you might have that view, after all wherever black people go, trouble seems to follow, right? But really it is much more complicated that Africa being "full of Africans." Mostly it boils down to the imposition of the nation-state system and arbitrarily drawn borders. There are ups and downs--periods of government centralization and decentralization--that lead to development, and Europe just so happened to hit a centralization phase during the industrial revolution. China just as easily may have been the dominating force in the world, but unfortunately for them they hit a period of instability just as Europe began to boom and were subsequently colonized. They suffered decades of poverty as a consequence in the 20th century, but unlike Africa were able to pull through because they had little trouble forming a national identity. Compare that to a country like Chad, an invention of foreign powers, where natural resources bought by foreign interests are the means to fund the central government, as opposed to taxes payed by citizens, and you have a situation in which the government only exerts influence in the capital and has no social contract with its citizens, citizens who don't even identify with the government to begin with because their first identity is to family, tribe, or other naturally-developed associations.

edit: I realize I never really made a point here.. I hope it is obvious. Africa is a shithole because in a country like Chad, the government and people to do not rely on one another, making reform or the enforcement of public policy impossible.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: ultra laser
There's a reason Africa is such a shithole: it's full of Africans. If you take Africans and put them in a new environment like, let's say, Detroit, they will inevitably turn it into Africa. For people are not the product of their surroundings; rather, surrounding are a product of the people.

The Africans I know do not want to be associated with blacks in the US. They despise them.

 

[Rio Rebel]

This thread is quickly turning into blatant racism. The OP raised a legitimate issue, so I'm not locking it, but if you want to participate, talk about the issue raised - not generalizations you have about Africans or black people.

Please don't push this line any further. Anandtech does not want to stifle discussion, but some of these comments are not acceptable and our African and African American members should not have to read this.

 

[beyoku]

The Africans you know are asses then. All the Africans I know associate with black people. Then again it depends of which black people you are talking about. Working class yes, non-working class, probably not. Africans as a group are the most educationally accomplished group in the US, even more so than Asians and also US Whites...............Who do you think they would associate with?...............Corner standers in the Ghetto?

 

[beyoku]

Thanks Rio, i dont know about Detroit politics, or the Detroit mayor in detail BUT i can tell you this; Many cases where black people feel as if a white power structure is trying to railroad a 'prominent A.A. into a certain position, will be supported by black people regardless of the issue. Whether its good or bad, it happens. This is an observation, it probably has little to do with how people think on an individual level and is more group think. Think of the support for the war or Its like policeman always "Supporting their own" and by no means have police officers ever been, in present or in history, a marginalized group.........African Americans on the other hand.... White people in the US do the same thing too, they will lie and make is seem as if they dont but they do, All the time. Yes looking at a city like Detroit and where i live NEWARK, i can see that the residents as a group are idiots. Group think will pretty much always override individualism, that's how you get jury verdicts.

 

[BarneyFife]

I agree this thread is getting carried away...

Back to the topic of the Detroit mayor. Do you guys remember last summer the NAACP buried the "N word"? This actually happened in Detroit with Kwame at the ceremony. I thought it was dead and now he's using the word again. I'm just in complete disbelief that the citizens of Detroit keep on supporting this thug.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
I agree this thread is getting carried away...

Back to the topic of the Detroit mayor. Do you guys remember last summer the NAACP buried the "N word"? This actually happened in Detroit with Kwame at the ceremony. I thought it was dead and now he's using the word again. I'm just in complete disbelief that the citizens of Detroit keep on supporting this thug.

I give him 2 more weeks. Everyone is turning on him at this point. Business leaders have told him he's killing their ability to develop plans, he's most likely going to have perjury charges brought against him, and even his support among those who have blindly followed him all along is disappearing.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
I agree this thread is getting carried away...

Back to the topic of the Detroit mayor. Do you guys remember last summer the NAACP buried the "N word"? This actually happened in Detroit with Kwame at the ceremony. I thought it was dead and now he's using the word again. I'm just in complete disbelief that the citizens of Detroit keep on supporting this thug.

I give him 2 more weeks. Everyone is turning on him at this point. Business leaders have told him he's killing their ability to develop plans, he's most likely going to have perjury charges brought against him, and even his support among those who have blindly followed him all along is disappearing.

The people of Detroit support him. He's not going to resign.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
This thread is quickly turning into blatant racism. The OP raised a legitimate issue, so I'm not locking it, but if you want to participate, talk about the issue raised - not generalizations you have about Africans or black people.

Please don't push this line any further. Anandtech does not want to stifle discussion, but some of these comments are not acceptable and our African and African American members should not have to read this.

I understand you moderators may have different obligations than I do, but I personally am glad this thread was not expunged. It is sobering, if sad, to see such profound ignorance and bigotry proudly and openly expressed. It shows us all just how deeply psychotic and sick too many Americans still are. Its when shit isn't flushed immediately it has a chance to float up so you can see it.

 

[TeeJay1952]

It is not about race. It is about socio-economic class warfare.
Poor people don't worry about niceties, they are concerned about survival.

 

[maziwanka]

hahaha. reminds me of the wire

 

[Genx87]

They elected him. If they continue to support him it is their own damn problem.

btw onto the off topic discussion of blacks and africans. In minneapolis we have a large somali community. They and the African American community dont typically get along. It is interesting.

 

[umbrella39]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
I agree this thread is getting carried away...

Back to the topic of the Detroit mayor. Do you guys remember last summer the NAACP buried the "N word"? This actually happened in Detroit with Kwame at the ceremony. I thought it was dead and now he's using the word again. I'm just in complete disbelief that the citizens of Detroit keep on supporting this thug.

QFT, this gangster needs to go. He is a walking contradiction and deserves to be behind bars. I am sure he will eventually wind up there. I wonder how many peope he has had silenced for good to keep his crimes out of the news.

 

[SandEagle]

i've actually seen kwame close up and you're right... he thinks he's a gangsta. fancy suits and a big diamond studded earring. cmon, don't refer to citizens as 'my peeps'. it's stupid and unprofessional. i grew up in detroit and all i can say is that kwame is a shame and a disappointment. the previous mayor, Dennis Archer, did one hell of a job cleaning up the city............but unfortunately, the current fool has made it 20x worse than before

 

[BarneyFife]

The thing I can't believe is that he has all the black baptist ministers of the city supporting him.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
I agree this thread is getting carried away...

Back to the topic of the Detroit mayor. Do you guys remember last summer the NAACP buried the "N word"? This actually happened in Detroit with Kwame at the ceremony. I thought it was dead and now he's using the word again. I'm just in complete disbelief that the citizens of Detroit keep on supporting this thug.

I give him 2 more weeks. Everyone is turning on him at this point. Business leaders have told him he's killing their ability to develop plans, he's most likely going to have perjury charges brought against him, and even his support among those who have blindly followed him all along is disappearing.

The people of Detroit support him. He's not going to resign.

No they don't. The latest poll numbers were very low. Higher than they should be, but still, low.

 

[palehorse]

I saw the same thing happen 14 years ago throughout the OJ trial, and again several months ago during the Michael Vick Town Hall meeting on ESPN.

It's a racial form of mob mentality that is actually quite sad.

 

[beyoku]

Originally posted by: Genx87
They elected him. If they continue to support him it is their own damn problem.

btw onto the off topic discussion of blacks and Africans. In minneapolis we have a large somali community. They and the African American community dont typically get along. It is interesting.

Somalians are East African Muslims, They for the most part dont even associate with their East African Christian brothers: Ethiopians, which Minneapolis also has a huge population of. East Africans and West Africans (and their African American brothers) generally have little in common with each other. But Caribbeans, A.A.'s and West Africans like to be in the same boat. This has been is my experience, and I grew up in Minneapolis and have an African wife.

So far Teejay said it best. "It is not about race. It is about socio-economic class warfare. "

 

[Corn]

Kwame is a disgrace...................and so are a few other posters in this thread. I think I'm gonna be sick...........:thumbsdown: