Purporting to advise Democrats about the next general election, John McCarron warns against a slate led by Carol Moseley-Braun, Roland Burris and John Stroger (Op-Ed, Dec. 29). His analysis is that black candidates have done well only when they were able “to position themselves within a racially balanced slate” and that there will be dire consequences “if white Democrats feel left out when they look at the top of their ballots.”
This shows development in McCarron’s thinking. Although he has written against affirmative action in the past, once claiming that he had never in his life been shown any preference but had earned everything on his own (making him possibly the only American white male never to have enjoyed any benefits of bias), he now shows that he has learned to sympathize with those who “feel left out when they look at the top of their ballots” and to appreciate “racial balance” as a proper goal. Sounds like affirmative action to me.
