By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – A professor who studies political psychology at Illinois State University said there’s no doubt we want to hold elected officials to a higher standard and it’s tricky to say why they would post controversial things on social media.
Bloomington mayoral candidate and current alderman Kevin Lower posted in a Facebook group in 2014 saying there are more opportunities in Africa than in North America. That came in response to a post which said African Americans who want to escape racism should return to their native land.
ISU professor Carl Palmer said elected officials are human. He added it’s easy to slip up and forget everyone can see what you say.
“You would hope as elected officials that they know better than to get in their own way,” said Palmer. “We can look to our current commander-in-chief as someone that uses social media and I don’t think he’ll be told that he’s changed how he tweets about anything.”
Lower said he didn’t intend for his comment to be racially charged.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
