I’ve commented before about the silence of Durham’s congressman, David Price, on the Duke lacrosse debacle. Today, blogger KC Johnson does the same. He speculates that Price has either a) become a strict constructionist, a position similar to the late Sen. Sam Ervin’s on civil rights, or b) is pandering to black voters in his district:
Ervin is a towering figure in the North Carolina Democracy, and I can see where Price would find political and ideological comfort in adopting a position on the lacrosse case that traces its ideological roots to a belief of Ervin’s—even if most people now consider Ervin’s approach to civil rights matters wholly wrong.
Or, perhaps, Price hasn’t gone through such ideological contortions, and instead he has simply decided that he will place his political self-interest above his obligation to protect civil rights for all.
