Though both Vrdolyak and Burke were ringleaders in the acrid Council Wars, it was only Vrdolyak whom the mayor loathed. I asked him why. “Because I think Burke is the product of his upbringing and environment. He is an honest racist,” said Harold, who didn’t live to see Burke later adopt an African American son. “But Vrdolyak isn’t a racist. He’s an opportunist. He’s using race, whipping people up for his own political purposes. And that I can’t forgive. That’s evil.”
