In 1988, I was one of only two white elected Democratic officials in all of America to endorse Jesse Jackson.

In 1988, I was one of only two white elected Democratic officials in all of America to endorse Jesse Jackson to be our party’s nominee for president. The other was Bernie Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, Vt.

As a Texas politico, my endorsement of the fiery Black leader was both derided as political suicide and hailed as gutsy. But it was neither — it was just the right thing to do. As I had learned from an old-time Texas Democrat, “Every now and then, a politician ought to do something just because it’s right.”

In the 1970s and 80s, I got to know and work with Jesse Jackson. A renowned orator, he was an even more effective thinker and uniter. For example, he was able to link white, conservative dirt farmers in common cause with impoverished farmworkers and inner-city families battling chain-store profiteers.

So, when he ran for president,........

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