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I cant say for sure if this is a white/black issue (differences in treating this type of corruption)... but in Detroit, Coleman Young set the precedent for this type of long-term corruption while still being reelected and beloved by many of the citizens for whatever reason.
As the previous poster Mr_Wizard mentioned, Dennis Archer was the mayor for 2 terms in the 90s and did a good job as he was pretty straight up person who had been a state supreme court justice prior to running Detroit...but it was obvious that Archer was out of his element when trying to deal with the corrupt network that pervades in Detroit...and that allegedly lead to his not seeking a 3rd term as he realized that his life was much more fulfilling not dealing with that garbage.... so when Kwamie came in, in the late 90s early 00s...he was very young, flashy and smooth talker and anyone could see that he was a shoo-in to be elected.
Terry Foster of the Detroit News, an African American columnist has a blog where yesterday he said that African Americans in Detroit are too-forgiving on their own and for that reason he expected Kwamie to skate through this and continue on.
In an overall sense though, this situation is not uncommon and really underlies a problem not only in America but in the world where corruption in government is so intensely focused that true-change for the better is not possible for the citizens....and yet the citizens blindly support those corrupt leaders.
I wasnt around in the 60s but that type of corruption, Im pretty sure, was one of the focal points for some of the protests that younger people were organizing (corruption, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Womans Lib etc.)...however today our world in America has become so polarized and so apathetic that for citizens to organize on any level is almost comical to conceive because it never happens.
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