Fight Racism. Confirm Clarence Thomas. (Updated)

by Corey Robin on May 25, 2015

I’ve been reading Jill Abramson’s and Jane Mayer’s Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas, the definitive account of Thomas’s confirmation battle, which came out in 1994. Here are eight things I’ve learned from it. Among the many surprises of the book is how men and women who were connected to the confirmation battle, or to Thomas and/or Anita Hill, and who were little known at the time, would go on to become fixtures of and issues in our contemporary politics and culture.

1. Edward P. Jones, author of The Known World, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004, was Clarence Thomas’s classmate at Holy Cross. They had long conversations.

2. Clarence Thomas was head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for eight years. When Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court, Strom Thurmond proudly declared, “I’ve known Clarence since he was head of the Unemployment Commission.”

3. Gary Bauer and Bill Kristol vacationed together at the beach each summer, along with their families. In the summer of 1991, at the Delaware shore, they planned the Christian right’s campaign to get Thomas confirmed to the Supreme Court.

4. Citizens United was formed by Floyd Brown in 1988 in the wake of the failed effort to get Robert Bork onto the Supreme Court. Brown helped make the Willie Horton ad. Getting Clarence Thomas confirmed by the Senate was one of the organization’s first missions. In 2010, Thomas was part of the slim majority that ruled in favor of Citizens United in Citizens United v. FEC. Though several arguments for his recusal in the case were brought up at the time, no one mentioned Citizens United’s contributions to his confirmation.

5. One of the ads pushing for Thomas’s Senate confirmation to the Court featured a photo of Thomas with the headline “To the Back of the Bus!” The copy read:

As the left strives to keep Judge Clarence Thomas from his seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s like forcing blacks to take a seat in the back of the bus. Fight racism. Call your U.S. Senators and urge them to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas.

6. Angela Wright, one of Thomas’s accusers whose testimony was buried by the Senate Judiciary Committee, worked for Charlie Rose when he was a Democratic congressman from North Carolina. [Update: Actually, the congressman Charlie Rose whom Right worked for was not the Charlie Rose of TV fame. My mistake! Thanks to Steve Hageman and Rick Perlstein for the correction.]

7. Kimberlé Crenshaw was part of the legal team advising Anita Hill.

8. Thomas liked to say that his favorite character in Star Wars was Darth Vader.

Updated (May 26)

9. One of the charges levied against Thomas in the hearings was that he had once spoken favorably about the views of Steve Macedo, the Princeton political theorist, who was at the time a conservative (and a professor at Harvard). There was an extended colloquy during the hearings between then Senator Joseph Biden, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Thomas—Utah Republican Orrin Hatch also got in on it at one point—about whether and why Thomas was attracted to Macedo’s views on natural law and property rights.

10. Along with Kimberlé Crenshaw, Janet Napolitano, Obama’s former Homeland Security Secretary, was also part of the legal team advising Anita Hill. Now she is the President of the University of California, where Crenshaw is a professor.

11. One of the leitmotifs of Mayer’s and Abramson’s book is how much Biden botched the Thomas/Hill hearings. From beginning—when Hill’s allegations first came to light—to end, when the Senate voted to approve Thomas, Biden got played, was cowed, caved into pressure from the White House and the Republicans, or simply didn’t care or understand enough of the issue to push for a fuller and fairer investigation of the facts.

12. When Howard Metzenbaum, also on the Judiciary Committee, found out the specifics of Anita Hill’s allegations about Thomas, the Ohio senator said, “If that’s sexual harassment, half the senators on Capitol Hill could be accused.”

{ 46 comments }

1

MPAVictoria 05.25.15 at 7:03 pm

” Thomas liked to say that his favorite character in Star Wars was Darth Vader.”

My God. Really?

2

adam.smith 05.25.15 at 8:02 pm

I always find these connections between political events 20, 30 years back and people today super fascinating. One of the few highlights I got from Wilentz’s Age of Reagan was the fact that Ann Coulter started making her name working on the Clinton Impeachment.

4.) is by far my favorite of this list.

As for Darth Vader — isn’t that kind of objectively correct? Who else would your favorite Star Wars Character be? Han Solo?

3

Corey Robin 05.25.15 at 8:07 pm

MPA: Yes!

adam.smith: You’re probably right. I can’t help seeing the movie through the lens of my seven-year-old, whose favorite character is R2D2.

4

MPAVictoria 05.25.15 at 8:11 pm

Han Solo is the obvious answer. Handsome, roguish and good but not too good. :)

5

adam.smith 05.25.15 at 8:20 pm

Darth Vader is no. 3 on the list of top villains by the AFI. Han Solo doesn’t even make the top 10 among heroes. http://www.afi.com/100years/handv.aspx
Clarence Thomas is, for once, right.

(Corey is right, though, about children and teenagers. When I first saw the movies (long after they came out) at age ~12 I was a huge Chewbacca fan.)

That’ll be it in terms of thread derailment by me, I promise.

6

Kalatozov 05.25.15 at 8:22 pm

“As for Darth Vader — isn’t that kind of objectively correct? Who else would your favorite Star Wars Character be? Han Solo?!”

Any of the characters who aren’t responsible for destroying an entire planet and murdering its inhabitants.

7

FredR 05.25.15 at 9:11 pm

I vaguely remember some black comedian doing a bit on how disappointing it was when Darth Vader, a strong black man, was revealed at the end to be an old white dude.

8

Manta 05.25.15 at 9:21 pm

Thanks for the post, Corey: now I know that there is somebody whose favorite Star Wars character is not Darth Vader (this IS a Star Wars post, right?)

9

MPAVictoria 05.25.15 at 9:25 pm

I didn’t know there was anyone whose favourite character WAS Lord Vader. You guys realize he is the bad guy right?

/ ;-)

10

Salem 05.25.15 at 9:40 pm

Palpatine is the bad guy. Anakin is the fallen hero who is redeemed at the end.

Besides, it’s silly to say your favourite character can’t be the bad guy. It’s fiction, “favourite” doesn’t mean you want him to win, still less that you want that kind of thing to happen in real life. Bad guys are often more interesting and complex than the good guys, who tend to be blank canvases for the audience to project themselves on (Luke is a good example of such a boring hero). Who’s your favourite character in Macbeth? Who’s your favourite character in Silence of the Lambs? Who’s your favourite character in Dracula? Who’s your favourite character in Seinfeld?

11

MPAVictoria 05.25.15 at 9:47 pm

“Anakin is the fallen hero who is redeemed at the end.”

Oh come on now. The man blows up a planet just to TEST his evil super weapon. Obviously evil enough to call the bad guy of the movie.

“Bad guys are often more interesting and complex than the good guys, who tend to be blank canvases for the audience to project themselves on (Luke is a good example of such a boring hero)”
Sure but with Solo around who needs Luke? ;-)

“Who’s your favourite character in Macbeth? Who’s your favourite character in Silence of the Lambs? Who’s your favourite character in Dracula? Who’s your favourite character in Seinfeld?”

Good examples and strong points. :-)

12

David L 05.25.15 at 9:58 pm

It is too bad they never made any films explaining Darth Vader’s backstory. I’m sure they would have been wonderful.

13

willf 05.25.15 at 9:59 pm

What? No love for Joe Biden? Thomas likely wouldn’t be sitting on the SCOTUS bench if Biden hadn’t softballed his questioning, refused to call witnesses that would have bolstered Anita Hill’s testimony, and allowed senators Orrin Hatch, Alan Simpson and Arlen Specter to smear her while he and other democrats sat by and watched.

14

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© 05.25.15 at 10:29 pm

Jar Jar Binks is the Gay Patriot West of liberal Star Wars fascism!
~

15

PJW 05.25.15 at 11:01 pm

I liked C-3PO, maybe because it/he reminded me of the Tin Man. Owned the action figure and everything even though at 15 I felt a little too old to be into such things. Wish I still had it.

16

Manta 05.25.15 at 11:12 pm

17

heckblazer 05.25.15 at 11:26 pm

FredR @ 6:

I believe you’re thinking of this scene from the film Chasing Amy.

MPAVictoria @ 11:

The Death Star was Grand Moff Tarkin’s project, and he was the one who ordered it to destroy Alderaan. Vader was a bit more hands on when it came to genocide.

18

Warren Terra 05.25.15 at 11:50 pm

It’s telling (about George Lucas) that, just in the first movie, Vader is introduced murdering prisoners, throttles a hapless subordinate, blows up an inhabited planet, and strikes down the most sympathetic character (and that’s not counting the prequel where he slaughters a school full of little children) but is later redeemed in the third film because he refuses to finish the job of killing his own son. Priorities and all that.

Mutilating the boy was fine, though; you’ve got to be firm with kids.

On the other hand: James Earl Jones voicing over a seven-foot-tall powerful Black man. Albeit that “Black” refers to the armor, and inside the outfut was a muted Welsh giant.

19

bianca steele 05.25.15 at 11:56 pm

Vader is introduced murdering prisoners, throttles a hapless subordinate, blows up an inhabited planet, and strikes down the most sympathetic character

Obviously he didn’t want to do it. You can tell from the early scenes between them that it’s all Leia’s fault.

20

Dean C. Rowan 05.26.15 at 12:09 am

Naw, Clarence Thomas is George Lucas. I can’t imagine having the slightest favorable attitude about Star Wars and its hypostatized industry. What miserable bland dreck.

21

Neil 05.26.15 at 1:12 am

I generally love this kind of book but this one might just be too depressing. I know that I’d somehow be constantly rooting for a different outcome.

22

geo 05.26.15 at 1:21 am

A vote for DV.

“The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it.”

Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

23

js. 05.26.15 at 2:00 am

What geo said. Look, villains are always more interesting. I’m surprised there’s even dispute about this. Take adam.smith’s AFI list (ok, the AFI is kinda pedestrian, but still)— the no. 1 “hero” is Atticus Finch! Seriously? I’m falling asleep right now!

And yes, Han Solo is the obvious choice for favorite character in Star Wars. The problem is that it’s way too obvious. So really, it’s got to be Darth Vader.

24

bianca steele 05.26.15 at 2:40 am

Please. This is worse than a fellow kindergarten parent telling me she started her kid on Episode I.

25

js. 05.26.15 at 2:46 am

@24:

Was that directed at me? If so, I don’t get it. (Well, I guess I don’t get it in general.)

26

Corey Robin 05.26.15 at 5:46 am

willf at 13: Absolutely. I did a quick update on the post about the Biden question. Mayer and Abramson are absolutely scorching in their treatment of him.

27

TheSophist 05.26.15 at 6:40 am

Janet Napolitano was also Governor of Arizona. One of Obama’s sins (IMHO) was appointing her to his cabinet, which meant that we got sec of state Jan Brewer inflicted on us (AZ’s constitution doesn’t have a Lt. guv – the SOS is next in line.) I met Napolitano once at a fundraiser. When she started talking to me and I explained to her that I wasn’t a potential donor but was only there because I taught the function’s hostess’s child, she kept chatting with me for several minutes, which I’ve always thought was rather classy.

28

Kresling 05.26.15 at 7:40 am

Because I was a teenager at the time of the confirmation hearings and had a teenager’s incredibly sophisticated understanding of current events, I came away from the period thinking there was some ambiguity about what happened with Anita Hill. And that’s why I was so astonished and grateful to read ‘Strange Justice,’ which dispassionately obliterates any doubt about whether or not Thomas sexually harassed Hill (he did), whether or not Thomas is qualified to sit on the Court (he’s not), and whether Biden is a coward or a fool (wait… still some ambiguity, actually).

Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson did a great thing when they wrote that book.

29

sanbikinoraion 05.26.15 at 9:43 am

Bear in mind that Thomas declared his love for Vader before Vader’s sullying with Hayden Christiansen’s whiny teenage angst in the prequels; otherwise he might have picked Darth Maul, as any right-thinking person would.

30

Nick Z 05.26.15 at 10:43 am

Warren Terra, @18: David Prowse is Bristolian, not Welsh (them’s fighting words!)

31

mattski 05.26.15 at 10:48 am

This is a painful memory for me. I remember some TV commentators responding to Anita Hill’s testimony by saying that Thomas was obviously TOAST. Then my Democratic Senators proceeded to chicken out in the worst possible way.

Thomas, having nothing else to defend himself with, played the OUTRAGE card and snarled at Biden, I believe, “You’re not my judge!”

To which Biden SHOULD HAVE responded, “No, I’m not your judge. I’m your job interviewer. We aren’t judging your immortal soul, we’re judging your fitness to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.”

32

bianca steele 05.26.15 at 11:34 am

js., Yes, at you and geo. DV in IV-VI is no way a Satanic Blakean villain. He’s a null representation of evil that just happens to be given human form.

33

bianca steele 05.26.15 at 1:18 pm

And though I can see how the voice of Mufasa and AT&T makes DV into a black character (despite its making me want to slap GL and ask him “what were you thinking–you couldn’t just give your villain a black costume and call him ‘Dark Father,’ you had to cast an African-American actor to really cement the idea that ‘black = evil’?)’ he doesn’t seem like a black character any more than James Franco in “Spring Breakers” is black.

34

Joshua W. Burton 05.26.15 at 1:57 pm

Oh come on now. The man blows up a planet just to TEST his evil super weapon.

Citation, please? Vader is guilty of saying “what do you mean?” to Tarkin at one point, but that’s the extent of his complicity in the Alderaan affair, as far as I know. (I’m speaking of the original release, not the one where the planet shoots first.)

35

Doug 05.26.15 at 2:42 pm

Geek alert! Tarkin is far more evil than Vader–he is so repellent that Princess Leia notably backs into Vader to get away from the Grant Moff! Vader’s evil was generally practical–he killed people because they opposed (or failed) him, not just for amusement.

Lucas’ original choice to play Vader was Toshiro Mifune (who wouldn’t have used a mask, obviously). Not only is it fascinating to speculate about what THAT movie would have been like, but it also reveals some of the original concept for Lord Vader–basically, Toshiro Mifune’s Macbeth character from Throne of Blood.

Also, Vader does have an undeniable sense of style.

36

geo 05.26.15 at 4:03 pm

Bianca@32: a null representation of evil

But evil is positive! As the medieval Scholastics taught, good is just the absence of evil.

37

bianca steele 05.26.15 at 5:15 pm

geo,

Ha! that sounded more like Hobbes than scholastics to me, and Google agrees. Dark the privation of light, that’s even worse, the black skin comes off and there’s a frail white man underneath the armor, the “true” human being. I don’t like that poem much, either. I figure DV is supposed to be Luke’s projection rather than being real evil in the world, but then I can’t take Jung seriously.

38

jonnybutter 05.26.15 at 7:08 pm

But evil is positive! As the medieval Scholastics taught, good is just the absence of evil.

I could have sworn that, at least according to Aquinas, it’s the opposite – evil is simply the absence of good.

39

geo 05.26.15 at 7:14 pm

Perhaps. But then, what is absence? Just non-presence. QED.

40

jonnybutter 05.26.15 at 11:11 pm

#39 Perhaps. But then, what is absence? Just non-presence. QED.

I wouldn’t want to nitpick one of my favorite contemporary nonfiction writers (Geo!), but I thought his idea was that Good is the baseline/normal state, and Evil is an aberration due to a deficit – like anemia is due to iron-poor blood, evil is a result of an ignorance of the good, rather than a positive value.

“Sorry we have to rip your fingernails out, but you are ignorant of the good!”

41

geo 05.27.15 at 5:19 pm

jonnybutter: I just prayed to Saint Thomas for illumination, and he informed me that I did indeed have it ass-backward.

42

ragweed 05.27.15 at 5:39 pm

It’s telling (about George Lucas) that, just in the first movie, Vader is introduced murdering prisoners, throttles a hapless subordinate, blows up an inhabited planet, and strikes down the most sympathetic character (and that’s not counting the prequel where he slaughters a school full of little children) but is later redeemed in the third film because he refuses to finish the job of killing his own son. Priorities and all that.

Well, of course. It is the sinner-who-repents that everyone loves. But the key is he has to die. Vader couldn’t destroy the emperor and then surrender and face the tribunal. He can’t actually face responsibility for his actions. He has to show, at the very end, that there is some good within him, and he can repent and his soul is saved, but only at the very end.

On a related note, Mark Twain’s Letter to the Earth:
Ah, heaven bless and keep you forever and ever, generous heart! There was not a dry eye in the realms of bliss; and amidst the hand-shakings, and embracings, and praisinqs, the decree was thundered forth from the shining mount, that this deed should out-honor all the historic self-sacrifices of men and angels, and be recorded by itself upon a page of its own, for that the Strain of it upon you had been heavier and bitterer than the strain it costs ten thousand martyrs to yield up their lives at the fiery stake; and all said, “What is the giving up of life, to a noble soul, or to ten thousand noble souls, compared with the giving up of fifteen dollars out of the greedy grip of the meanest white man that ever lived on the face of the earth?”

And it was a true word. And Abraham, weeping, shook out the contents of his bosom and pasted the eloquent label there, “RESERVED”: and Peter, weeping, said, “He shall be received with a torchlight procession when he comes”; and then all heaven boomed, and was glad you were going there. And so was hell.

43

William Berry 05.27.15 at 6:25 pm

johnnybutter @40:

Yes. A good analogy is the idea of metaphysical evil. It exists because of the defect of finitude of the cosmos.

44

Bill Murray 05.27.15 at 6:42 pm

ragweed @42 Well, of course. It is the sinner-who-repents that everyone loves. But the key is he has to die.

so that’s why everyone hates Josh Duggar, he hasn’t died yet.

45

jonnybutter 05.27.15 at 6:43 pm

thanks all

46

mdc 05.28.15 at 7:06 pm

“good is just the absence of evil.”

While logically possible, almost no one has ever held this view. Maybe Schopenhauer?

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