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QOTD: The Lynching of Clarence Thomas
When I stood next to the President in Kennebunkport being nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States, that was a high honor, but as I sit here before you 103 days later, that honor has been crushed. From the very beginning, charges were leveled against me from the shadows, charges of drug abuse, anti-Semitism, wife beating, drug use by family members, that I was a quote appointment, confirmation conversion, and much, much more. And now this.
Mr. Chairman, I am a victim of this process. My name has been harmed. My integrity has been harmed. My character has been harmed. My family has been harmed. My friends have been harmed. There is nothing this committee, this body, or this country can do to give me my good name back. Nothing. I will not provide the rope for my own lynching or for further humiliation. I am not going to engage in discussion nor will I submit to roving questions of what goes on in the most intimate parts of my private life or the sanctity of my bedroom. These are the most intimate parts of my privacy and they will remain just that, private.
—Clarence Thomas
As I was browsing my bookshelves, looking for a book that might have an inspiring quote, I saw Clarence Thomas’ memoir, My Grandfather’s Son. He wrote a candid, powerful description of his early life, college years, and finally his nomination to the Supreme Court. The memory of the nomination hearings 25 years ago, with the unforgiveable and detestable testimony by Anita Hill, drifted into the present. Here was a man who had experienced difficulties and challenges in his life. But I don’t think he could have imagined how his life and reputation would be damaged by the inquisition he withstood to be considered as a Justice of the Supreme Court. It is one of the most despicable government processes ever, akin to a lynching, and I hope those who participated have at least some regret if not shame for their involvement. Even after he was selected, the criticisms of him personally, politically and intellectually continued for years.
Today, I think we recognize how fortunate this country is that he was chosen. He’s now recognized as a fine jurist and advocate for conservative values. I hope that after all these years he has found peace in serving this country.
Bless you, Justice Thomas, and thank you for your service.
Your thoughts?
Published in Politics
Lynching and the Democratic Party? A match not made in heaven, more a partnership from hell.
Those hearings were a sorry chapter in our history.
Susan, Judi and I have had the incalculable privilege of meeting Justice Thomas on three separate occasions, on one of which we got to spend a little time talking with him, and we can tell you, from personal experience, that he is without a single doubt one of the finest people we have ever had the honor of meeting. We were very active with a legal organization known as the American Inns of Court, patterned after the Inns of Court in England, and the first time we met him was an annual dinner of the organization held in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. We found that Justice Thomas was, in fact, as we had heard about him, a most personable fellow with one of the heartiest laughs you have ever heard, and we also found he was willing to talk with anyone as long as they wanted to stay– he loved to, as they say in Judi’s hometown in Southwest Louisiana, “visit”, especially about our great food and restaurants! He is always a great hit at any gathering he attends and although we had admired him for many years before we first met him, I would have to assume that no matter one’s previous attitudes about the man, considering the venom and poison the media spewed about him and his family and everything about him and his life, one would come away from a personal meeting with him with an entirely different feeling. As you can see, I cannot say enough about his qualities as a person; simply put, we just love the man. However, we, along with many with far greater expertise in law and jurisprudence than ours, also consider him the true towering intellectual on the Court who, along with that Giant of the Law, Antonin Scalia, will be proven by history to have been one of the great Justices in the history of the Court. His opinions are absolutely some of the most deeply researched and clearly written of any on the Court today, far surpassing any of those written by those on the so-called “liberal” wing of the Court, which, it must be noted, seems to change shape depending on how Justice Kennedy or the Chief Justice felt at breakfast on any given day. It is a true measure of the bile and vitriol of our times that we had to hear the cretinous and sleazy Harry Reid claim that Justice Thomas’ opinions were so poorly written that they were an embarrassment to the Court. The precise opposite is the truth and that proud product of the Nevada desert is now safely out of the way back in Searchlight (provided, I guess, that he is not using his workout equipment again!) and Justice Thomas is still serving the American people as one of the greatest arbiters of Justice the Court has ever known! Bless Mr. Justice Thomas, indeed! Thank you so much for this very fine post about this great man.
When Obama says he wouldn’t have appointed Thomas because he didn’t think Thomas was smart enough, it belies the reason Democrats went after Thomas all those years ago. Did anyone there believe he didn’t have the brains for the job then? No, they personally trashed him. So it was ok to try to disqualify Thomas based on painting him as a stereotypical black man, and it was Democrats that did it.
What an outstanding testimony! Thank you for sharing that. Quality of character is becoming hard to find, and when you do, they seem to take the worst arrows.
Justice Clarence Thomas, truly a profile in courage. A man who overcame so much and reached the pinnacle of his profession. One who loves the Constitution and who appreciates the Court as being the interpretation of law, rather than the making of law. America has benefited greatly from his presence on SCOTUS.
And it was a high tech lynching … at the deceitful hands of our former VP …
Right along with this one (brought to us by some of the same people):
I’m so jealous! I would love to be able to speak with Justice Thomas. I’ve always thought of him as an honorable man, and I so appreciate your sharing of your experience with him. Thanks, Jim!
You are so right, Hoyacon. It was another bizarre and unforgiveable episode, a disgrace to our country.
This is an entry in our Quote of the Day Series. It’s an ongoing series started, coördinated, and written by members who volunteer to do so. We still have several openings this month, so if you have a quote worth sharing or a topic for which you can find a quote, wouldn’t you like to sign up today?
I remember those hearings very well. I was in law school and we were all glued to them. I was rooting for him then (I even sent a telegram to my senator – yes, a telegram!) and he’s exceeded all my hopes and expectations for him. He is, in my opinion, the best justice of my lifetime. Clear eyed, principled, and fearless. Oddly, I sometimes think that what he went through in the confirmation process helped give him the courage of his convictions.
I’m old enough to remember the hearings before liberals started rewriting history. I remember panel after panel of witnesses, who knew both Thomas and Hill, all coming to Thomas’ defense.
I remember Hill being caught in a lie. She had testified that Thomas had harrassed her in one job; and yet, when he moved to a different department, she followed him! Asked to explain this, she told the Senators that she, a Yale Law School graduate, didn’t know the first job was a permanent position. Implausible enough; even before we learn that other people remembered discussing the matter with her.
My Grandfather’s Son is an outstanding read. It must have been difficult for Thomas to write as he is unsparing in recounting his personal turmoil at points in his life.
Wonderful Post, Susan! We need eight more like Clarence Thomas. Wonderful man!
It was a different (and better) time in the U.S. Senate. The Democrats had a staggering 57-43 majority, but on October 16, 1991 Justice Thomas was confirmed 52-48, with 11 Democrats voting to confirm (and 2 Republicans voting against confirmation).
i think that we are going to be seeing party line votes for quite a while now for the Supreme Court.
Great post, Susan. Your posts make Ricochet a treasured site. Kent
Unfortunately true.
Susan Quinn – I read My Grandfather’s Son a few years ago, not long before Obama appointed Sotomayor to the SC. Having read this powerful book, I was disgusted by Obama’s portrayal of Sotomayor’s poor, underprivileged childhood. Hers was a walk in the park compared to that of Justice Thomas.
Of course, everything about the Left disgusts me.
I oaned the book to a black gentleman at church. When he returned it to me, he said (and I quote), ” I would vote for a dog before a Democrat”.
You can’t help but wonder how many good, honorable, decent men and women have turned away from the very idea of public service after watching those hearings. The entire process was yet another sad chapter in the (ongoing) attempted destruction of everything that is good and decent in this nation. Looking back on this terrible drama reminds me that the press back then was already rotten to the core, it’s not a recent development. Shame on them all for what the tried but thankfully failed to do to this man.
I do believe Justice Thomas should be revered today, this man withstood the arrows and personal attacks and went on to serve his nation on the highest court in the land. Bless this man indeed.
Thank you, Kent. Your post was excellent, too!
Justice Thomas spoke at the graduation ceremony at Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, the year before my daughter Valerie graduated (2011). I had read his book so I made it a point to attend. What an inspiration that man is. R-MA is an exceptional school that attracts and encourages exceptional students (including my kid, who was a national champion debater and polished off college in three years). Justice Thomas spoke directly to those kids, and I have no doubt that his words reached them. Times like that are why I refuse to give up hope for the future.
Howard Metzenbaum and Paul Simon were the slimeballs who turned the Clarence confirmation hearings into a disgusting episode.
The most interesting comment at the time was from a spokeswoman for one of the “activist” groups who argued that (a) groups like hers get involved in a lot of litigations which often reach the Supreme Court (b) the attacks on Thomas (including by her) were so ugly, partisan and personal that he could never be expected to be unbiased when these groups were parties or amici to an issue on appeal therefore he was unfit for the court. Morons.
I don’t need the ugly details, and I’m not surprised, but what did these two do, OB?
To make matters worse, when they opened the new African-American Museum it included an exhibit of Anita Hill and her bravery in making those allegations. There is absolutely no mention of Clarence Thomas in the museum.
The bogus rationale the Smithsonian gave was that the museum was about themes, not individuals (eyes rolling in the back of my head). Except, there are plans to include an exhibit honoring Jim Vance, a D.C. news anchor. Using the Smithsonian’s logic, I guess we’re forced to conclude that he has received the highest honor of becoming a theme, no longer a mere mortal
The truly heroic thing was the way she followed him from job to job after he said such vile things. For years.
If I recall correctly, the good Mr. Biden also did much to show what a stand-up, classy guy he really was/is.
Thank you for bringing this up, Bereket. I was outraged when I heard this. They also put in someone else recently–a rock star? Anyway, their excuses are pathetic. I almost wish they’d just say we didn’t honor him because he’s a black Conservative; at least it would have been honest!
That’s right–I was asking @oldbathos who they were–they were on the darn committee. Shame on them.
General rule of thumb – any museum that has been started/opened in the last 20 years is not worth your time. The PC-types have way too much influence over their collections, with no inertia from before to constrain the collections.
I haven’t been to the AA museum, but the Smithsonian American Indian museum was unbelievably boring and pointless.
I’ve watched YouTube videos of Thomas speaking with college and law students. He is warm and wonderful. Very open and very non-political.