Thomas, Clarence (1948-)

Clarence Thomas was nominated in 1991 by President George H. W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and remains one of the most controversial justices on the Court. After a highly contentious judicial hearing, he was confirmed. The judicial hearing attracted considerable attention both from the media and from political action groups, some of which supported his nomination and others that were vehemently opposed. The controversy stemmed from President Bush's selection to replace Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Associate Justice, who was retiring after a career marked by a history of leadership and activism in civil rights and social justice, with Thomas, a young man, also African American, but who did not share Marshall's tenacity with respect to social justice. In comparison with Justice Marshall, widely revered as an icon, Thomas was viewed by many not only as an intellectual lightweight but also by the left as “Uncle Thomas,” an unflattering label alluding to a troubling contradiction about the nominee— that he, who had benefited from affirmative action policies, was known for his public condemnation of affirmative action.

During the judicial hearings, there was testimony against Thomas and words of support offered by friends, former classmates, and colleagues. Some of the most controversial and widely publicized criticisms were made by Anita Hill, a former employee who came forward to accuse Thomas of sexual harassment. The confirmation hearing became a test of political wills and a media circus, which culminated in Thomas's accusing the Senate Judiciary Committee of a high-tech lynching on “uppity” Blacks who were independent thinkers. The vote of October 15 was close, at 52–48, and although the controversy subsided somewhat after confirmation, it has never gone away. Public attitudes about Clarence Thomas remain deeply divided, particularly among those Americans who witnessed (or viewed on television) the nomination process. After the hearings, Thomas seemed embittered by the experience, and many African Americans continued to dissociate themselves from him, saddened by what they perceived as the symbolism and the irony of his appointment.

Clarence Thomas's biography reveals a man with academic triumphs, career achievements, and challenges. He was born June 23, 1948, in rural Pin Point, Georgia, a former plantation site near Savannah. After his parents divorced, he was sent to Savannah to live with his maternal grandparents and he credits both grandparents for raising him. Through his eyes, his grandfather, known as “Daddy,” was an American hero. The influence of his grandfather and Thomas's fondness for him is evident in Thomas's memoir, titled My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir. Thomas attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and later studied law at Yale University. He developed a penchant for speaking out about the Black power movement and isolationism. While at Holy Cross College, he was strongly opposed to a decision made by the Black Student Union that resulted in the designation of a corridor to be used exclusively by Black students. The corridor was to be painted in liberation colors: red, black, and green. During this period, Thomas [Page 803]also protested in Boston against the Vietnam War, and after much reading and acclimation to Holy Cross College, he began to speak about the importance of tackling the mainstream head on-through involvement and not isolation. Some observers have commented on the irony that Thomas chose Yale Law School over Harvard because he viewed Harvard as too conservative and Yale as much more liberal.

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