This is probably the first of several Black Panther posts. One of the lines that stuck with me throughout the movie was after T’Challa becomes king of Wakanda. His father T’Chaka tells him that “it’s hard for a good man to be king.” There are a couple of ways to take this.

The first is that it is difficult for a moral person to make the compromised moral choices successful governing might require. In the movie, T’Challa faces some tough moral dilemmas. For example, he can choose to accept refugees and give them a far better life than they would otherwise know, but risk exposing Wakanda to the rest of the world. Then, other nations might try to conquer Wakanda for its vibranium, in which case T’Challa would make the lives of his people worse.

There is certainly an argument to be made that a wealthy, advanced nation like Wakanda has a special duty to those languishing in poverty nearby. So, it would seem that a good person would take the refugees in. But Wakanda’s king may still be unable to admit them if doing so would ultimately put his people at risk. If we frame T’Challa’s choices this way, a good leader may not be able to do the right thing. This is a reality that could confront all leaders at some point. A leader committed to honesty might have to weigh disclosing aspects of national surveillance that she thinks people have a right to know about against the possibility that terrorists will then have an easier time circumventing intelligence efforts. A leader who hates violence might have to take her country to war, which will lead to countless deaths, in order to place the country in a stronger geo-political position. In both cases, the leaders might not be able to live up to their moral ideals.

So perhaps T’Chaka is right and a good person who insists on following their moral convictions will be unable to make the choices leaders sometimes must for their countries. So is the solution to pick amoral leaders?

I don’t think so. The above scenarios present moral tradeoffs between two moral goods and two moral evils. On one hand, preserve your country’s safety, and on the other lie to its people. Refuse to take part in a war now and preserve lives, but at the cost of putting your country in a vulnerable position where others continually dominate it. Only a moral leader can see the moral implications of whatever actions she takes or does not take. After all, it takes a working moral compass to navigate the moral landscape all leaders must traverse.

The second way to take T’Chaka’s statement is that a moral person will have a hard time being a successful leader because he will be more tormented by tough decisions than a person with fewer moral scruples. And here, I think he is on solid ground. Eventually, a moral leader would find that the moral tradeoffs a king of Wakanda must make weigh on him. They make him question whether he is a good person and whether he is doing what is right. The voice at the back of his head saying “that isn’t right” will go from a whisper to a constant roar. More than likely, he may find himself surrendering his moral compass or surrendering his power.

I hope the inevitable sequels really dig into this question. How long can T’Challa live with the moral contradictions confronting him?