The sentiment was laudable, but its source was a surprise. There, arguing for the nomination of a black attorney to the Federal Government's top civil rights position, sat South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond, who had once declared, "There's not enough troops in the Army to break down segregation and admit the Negro into our homes, our eating places, our swimming pools and our theaters." His current rationale: "It seems to me that we ought to give this black man a chance. Years ago, minorities didn't have a chance."
Thurmond's astonishing plea for equal opportunity failed to sway a majority of the...