Reading Steve Phillips’s Oct. 18 op-ed, “Democrats have a chance to prove they care about diversity,” advocating that Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Katie Porter drop out of the race for a Senate seat in California so that Rep. Barbara Lee, who is Black, has a clear path, reminded me of my experience in 1991, when my Black co-workers at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. were enthusiastic about the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Though Ms. Lee’s politics in no way resemble Mr. Thomas’s, what I said then is just as true today: Black people are best served by the best candidates irrespective of whether they physically resemble the electorate.
