How Race Decides the Race to the White House.
Kenyatta agrees. “It’s creating a very negative image around the country as it relates to black leadership in general, young black leadership in particular,†he says. Kilpatrick, who is 37, was the youngest mayor to be elected in the city of Detroit when he first took office in 2002. He is currently the vice president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.
The damage to Kilpatrick’s career is yet another blow for the African American political landscape, Hutchinson says. “The charges are a taint and a stain on the career of a young, progressive African American politician who seemed to hold so much promise to jumpstart the much-needed revitalization of the desperately lagging economy and political fortunes of Detroit,†he says. “And who seemed poised to play an energizing role nationally in black politics.