QOTD: SCOTUS Justice Thomas on where he’s faced the most discrimination
Hint – You will not be surprised:
Americans today are too sensitive about race, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told a gathering of college students in Florida on Tuesday.
Speaking at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., Thomas,Β the second black justice to serve on the court, lamented what he considers a society that is more βconsciousβ of racial differences than it was when he grew up in segregated Georgia in the days before β and during β the civil rights era.
[…]
Thomas moved north from Georgia and graduated from Yale Law School in 1974. He went on to a successful judicial career that took him all the way to the Supreme Court. Thomasβ views on constitutional issues usually put him on the conservative side of the court, where he has penned opinions intended to rein in affirmative-action laws and overhaul a section of the Civil Rights Act that requires states with histories of discrimination to seek approval from the federal government before altering voting policies.
Throughout his career, Thomas said, he has experienced more instances of discrimination and poor treatment in the North than the South.
βThe worst I have been treated was by northern liberal elites. The absolute worst I have ever been treated,β Thomas said. βThe worst things that have been done to me, the worst things that have been said about me, by northern liberal elites, not by the people of Savannah, Georgia.β
It’s fascinating, really, when you think about how long we’ve gone on now – half a century? – with the Β phony myth that persists about “liberal tolerance.” Β Black conservatives, especially high profile conservatives like Justice Thomas, are routinely on the receiving end of some especially hateful rhetoric from leftists about how how they have “sold out” to the “white establishment”, Β are “Uncle Toms”, “Oreos”, etc. And this despicable bigotry from so-called “open-minded” liberals doesn’t come from just the rank and file Joe and Jane Smiths out there. Β Prominent academic and “philosopher” Dr. Cornel West, for example, is an important figure in left wing activist circles and he has been particularly vicious towards Thomas and other black conservatives for, in so many words, ‘not being black enough.’ Β He is not alone, by far.
While elements of racism and racial bigotry still unfortunately persist in many parts of our society decades since the 1964 CRA was passed, the way it has manifested itself into the higher echelons of Democrats and like-minded individuals in their philosophical circles is no less disgraceful and unacceptable than it is when it comes from the far right fringe. Β The biggest differences, of course, are how they are viewed by the public: We rightly condemn it in its most obviously overt and classic forms when it comes from the far right but it is ignored when it comes in “lecture” form by elitist left wing types who are supposed to be our moral and societal “betters” on such matters. Β This is why it’s so important that Justice Thomas and others in his position of power and influence continue to speak out about it.
And although we may never change the way free conservative thinkers like Thomas are treated by liberals and their allies in the mainstream and opinion press – because bursting that narrative wide open means Dems lose their stranglehold o the “minority” vote, sunlight is the best disinfectant and we need to continue to shine a bright light on stories like the one Justice Thomas shared. Β As a famous civil rights leader once said so simply, paraphrasing from the Bible: “I still believe that freedom is the bonus you receive for telling the truth. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Update – 11:20 AM: I’m sure the national press will be all over this reprehensible bile spewed by Alabama state legislator Rep. Alvin Holmes (D):
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, just said on House floor that he doesn't like Clarence Thomas because "he's married to a white woman."
— Mary Sell (@DD_MarySell) February 11, 2014
and
Alvin Holmes told @TLockette_Star that he supports interracial marriage and statement Thomas was misinterpreted. But Thomas is "Uncle Tom."
— Mary Sell (@DD_MarySell) February 11, 2014
(Via Quin Hillyer)