Despite the outcry against Kwame Kilpatrick’s invitation to speak at EMU, there were hundreds of people waiting in line to hear him speak Tuesday night.
Dinah Nasari, a sophomore studying criminology at EMU, came with an open mind.
“I’m just here to hear his side of the story. I was never really against him or for him. I really want to hear what he has to say about what he’s done and why people are making such a big deal about him coming here,” Nasari said. “They don’t really know what went on. We only saw one side of the story. So I want to hear what he has to say about everything that went on in the news. I’m really interested about that.”
Jeremy Carter, a senior studying history at EMU, also came to hear what Kilpatrick had to say.
“I’m from Detroit and I want to know what Kwame’s story is. I want to know what he’s talking about,” Carter said. “I want to know if he’s going to bring up his book also.”
Aaron Brown, a senior studying communications at EMU, is a member of B.L.A.C.K. and explained that people genuinely wanted to hear Kilpatrick’s side of the story.
“You heard one side of the story in his fall of grace from Detroit. Some people just want to hear it from his point of view,” Brown said. “With the topic, second chances and redemption, people are coming to hear about how he’s trying to make his life right.
“You’re actually seeing his redemption play out. I know the city of Detroit hasn’t forgiven him. Honestly it may never come. But I’m interested because I’ve never heard it from his point of view. All you hear is the media and I want to hear what he says so that I can weigh them both out.”
Leon Neely, a senior studying criminal justice at EMU, spoke of Kilpatrick with compassion and argued that the people who have expressed disapproval of Kilpatrick’s invitation are self righteous and close-minded.
“You’ve got to hear both sides of the story. He’s a man. He’s going to make mistakes. We’re all human. We make mistakes,” Neely said.
“For the people that are just looking on the outside, they’re not here. People who are just saying stuff, they wouldn’t come here and actually try to hear him out. They would just keep their own opinion and stay where they’re at.”
Standing near the North entrance to the student center was solitary protestor wearing a sign that read “Actions Speak Louder Than Words.” His name was William Caldwell. He is a junior studying psychology at EMU. Caldwell expressed that there was no legitimate justification to Kilpatrick’s invitation.
“Every excuse that I’ve heard has been a complete cop out,” Caldwell said. “People are trying to justify [the decision to invite Kilpatrick] saying, ‘If they had brought Michael Vick in, then PETA would be outside.’ Michael Vick complied with the judge’s order. A judge ordered him to go to jail for his crime. He did and he’s done. Kwame Kilpatrick and his partners have 38 charges pending right now for racketeering, bribery, and the like. This time next year he’ll probably be in prison. So let him finish all of his charges before he goes around talking about second chances.”
On the back of Caldwell’s sign was an acrostic poem made out of B.L.A.C.K. that read: “Blameworthy, Liar, Attention whore, Corrupt, Kilpatrick.” Caldwell questioned the prudence of the student organization.
“Instead of flying him out here and paying for his accommodations, why don’t they put the money in his escrow account?” Caldwell said. “[Kilpatrick] has a book. And I’m sure the book has sold a few copies by now. So why is that account empty? Until he gets an appeal, he’s got to pay. He just bought a new house. He didn’t have any problem coming up with the money for that.
“He moved into a 5,000 square foot house when the Manoogian mansion is only 4,000 square feet. Yet he’s crying in court talking about how he’s broke and he can’t pay the restitution back. He said he doesn’t have any money and can’t pay the restitution, so he asked for the minimum payment, $160 a month. It would take him over 300 years to pay it back at that rate.”
Kilpatrick’s speech and the proceeding Q&A section lasted approximately an hour and a half. Afterwards, most people were seemed impressed with his presentation and the quality of the event.
Craig Jefferson, a senior studying public administration at EMU, found the presentation especially moving.
“I thought that it was very good. The topic was very personal to me,” Jefferson said. “I am a full time student here. But before I was, I was also incarcerated. At 20 years old I was incarcerated and I was released when I was 30. I am now 39 and I’ve done a lot of things to put my past behind me and move forward. The topic was great for me because I desire a second chance. But in today’s society, it’s hard to get a second chance, especially being an African American male with a felony.”
Commenting on the controversy surrounding Kilpatrick, Jefferson argued that people have judged the former mayor being for his misdeeds without weighing his accomplishments. Jefferson also asserted that public vitriol towards Kilpatrick is due largely to race.
“While he was mayor I saw a lot of things happening in Detroit. I saw some things getting better. It was a happier city. I still saw a lot of things happening in the city that definitely aren’t happening now,” Jefferson said.
“If you’re not familiar with Detroit, if you’re not an African American who lives in Detroit, you may not understand it. A lot of people like Kwame. A lot of African Americans might look at it like he did something wrong but what did President Bush do or what did President Clinton do? Just because he’s black, everybody’s hard on him. A lot of the times the people who may not be black, may be white, it seems like the things they do are kind of swept under the rug and forgotten about. I think racism is still big in America and I believe a lot of the issues are race related.”
When asked what he thought of such claims, Caldwell responded indignantly.
“I’m black. I’m from Detroit. People tend to try to stick together, saying ‘We’ve got to support him because he’s black.’ But right is right and wrong is wrong.”
Caldwell explained that his dream is to improve the quality of life for future generations in Detroit. He argued that the lasting effects of Kilpatrick’s administration will make it harder for him to fulfill that dream.
“I’m not [at EMU] to get a job at some Fortune 500 company. I’m going back to Detroit to make schools better than they were when I was there, so the streets will be safer than they were when I was there. And this is making my job even harder,” Caldwell said. “They’re cutting police patrol. They’re closing schools. It’s all because of his crooked administration. It’s just too much. He needs to finish the charges he currently has before he goes around preaching about second chances.”
Prithvi Varma, a senior studying psychology at EMU, found Kilpatrick’s presentation to be positive and motivational, qualities, he argued, that were more relevant than the former mayor’s past.
“I didn’t go into this thinking he was a great guy. I’m not coming from a standpoint where I agree with anything he did. I came here to understand what he has to say,” Varma said. “At the end of it all, what is he trying to do? If [Kilpatrick] positively influences at least one person, that’s fine with me. We can talk about what he used to do, but [B.L.A.C.K.] is bringing him here for the purpose of redemption and second chances.”
