Color-blind Ethics

I was absolutely gobsmacked by this article on the Kwame Kilpatrick scandal. Not because I agreed with it, but because of who wrote it. I had thought Mr. Pitts was a typical liberal of color, forever and only seeing the mote in his (white) neighbor's eye. I am delighted to be proven wrong. I also appreciate the exasperated tone of his writing. He's fed up, and rightfully so.

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.