The shame of Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas makes me physically ill. When he was first nominated to the Court by George H. W. Bush, I thought to myself: “only George Bush could find a white, Black man.” That thought still rings true to me. In his concurring opinion to dismantle affirmative action, he called the practice “government-imposed racism.” That may be his view today, but that wasn’t what he initially thought.
According to ABC News, when Thomas applied for entrance to Yale, he asked them to consider his race. Asked them to do so, and he wrote about it in his book. When he was employed at the EEOC, he told his staff: “These laws and their proper application are all that stand between the first 17 years of my life and the second 17 years” (Washington Post). Now, affirmative action is “government-imposed racism.” For that remark alone, Thomas is the typical Republican who talks out of both sides of his mouth. In his self-serving concurring opinion, he discussed how affirmative action made him feel less of a person. He has whined about being turned down by law firms because he was a beneficiary of affirmative action when the fact is that when Thomas was trying to get a job in lily-white firms, he was turned down because he was Black, further supporting the need for affirmative action.
It is both sad and angering to see such a hypocritical fool sitting on the Supreme Court. Thomas got his; he doesn’t want you to get yours. As pointed out by Levi Pearson, the Communications Director for the National Black Law Students Association: “There are no special conditions once you get into law school. You are competing at the same level. Affirmative Action creates doors to be opened.” Thomas knows that. He simply hates his own race. Unlike Thomas, I’m proud of who I’ve become despite society’s thoughts on my race.
Thomas suddenly hates all the benefits he has enjoyed since getting the opportunities provided by affirmative action. He enjoys a cushy job from which he can never be terminated; he gets to rub shoulders with the most elite of the conservative movement from which he benefits without reporting those benefits. Thomas is the worst example of a “Black” man to Black youth, but he likely could care less. He’s enjoying his best life, from free trips to his membership in Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, from whom he derives even more gifts. According to the New York Times, Thomas has been given vacation retreats, VIP tickets to sporting events, and enjoyed all the best parties, all courtesy of his “friends” at Alger. They’re not his friends; they want something from him, and he is too stupid, too ignorant, or too greedy to see it.
Clarence Thomas is no role model; he is a classic example of one who has forgotten where he came from and gladly leaves it and those behind him in the dust. He is, in essence, the epitome of what a Black man shouldn’t become. He should be ashamed, but he has none. He’s too busy yachting, sipping, and tripping.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years