Who is Clarence Thomas?

Of course he is one of the nine judges of the Supreme Court of the United Sates.But besides this title who is he really?Does anybody know him?If somebody has told me that one day I will buy Clarence Thomas'autobiogaraphy;my answer would have been :I doubt it very much.Yet ,this is exactly what I intend to do today;I want to read about this man's life that we, afro americans, liberals democrats called Uncle Tom,an opportunistic white man hiding behind a black face who benefited from affirmative action ,but who, at the present time, adheres to the conservatist policies of the Republican party.

Seriously,could it be that Clarence Thomas is a very smart man who fooled everybody :black and white ,liberals and conservatists;someone who we,haitians, called "yon met dam" .Sunday night on 60 minutes I was shocked to hear Clarence Thomas said the following:"I was never a liberal,liberalism was too lukewarm for me;I was a radical;I admired Malcom X.Is it possible or even probable that Clarence Thomas could be a radical blak man who,disatified with the white liberals democrats who speak about discrimination,injustices, affirmative action et al ,but who in reality do not give a d...... about the conditions of the poor black boys he once was?I am intrigued by this enigma.Looking at Clarence Thomas Sunday night I do not think he was lying.I think he is one of these very intolerant men who do not accept mediocrity,false promises to be fooled later ;Someone who does not want somebody to have pity for his conditions .but who walks the walk to help his race overcome the catastrophes of slavery.Maybe he is one of the smart men who recognizes that it will not do us any good to complain all the time ,but we ,as free men, must have the courage to take our destiny into our own hands ;yes, one of those men who recognizes the value of education and who refuses to admit he is inferior to anybody; that his diploma does not mean anything because he was admitted to Yale law School ,not because of his merit ,his intellect ,but because of affirmative action.As he said during the interview :"I am not a black man .I am a man."Does this sentence remind you of Sidney Poitier's speech to his father in the movie :"Guess who is coming to dinner"?

Perharps you are wondering :Does Rod start smoking;what is he smoking this morning?My friend, I do not smoke ;I am only puzzled by this frenzy in the press.Is it only to promote Clarence Thomas'book ;or could it be that the Thomas couple represents a pair of hidden Aces that the right wing of the Republican party is reserving in case Frank Thompson's campaign does not generate enough enthousiasm during the campaign next year,and Senator Hilary Clinton or Obama is the nominee of the democratic party.Now you must be wondering :is he losing his mind?.

Why this sudden interest in the press for Clarence Thomas?Why this taciturn man is speaking so eloquently about returning home.Why did he write :"I am my grand father son"? He is on 60 Minutes; on good Morning America ;on Night light et al?What is going on? The press does not show that kind of interest for a black man ,even if he is Clarence thomas ;there must be an agenda that we do not know yet .What is in the sleeve of the ex director of the CIA?Is ClarenceThomas the Dauphin of the Bush dynasty or is he the prodigal son who is returning to his grand father 's house?Stay tuned.

At any rate ,if he were just promoting his books,I would not mind for he is ,in spite of all the negatives written about him ,a very smart man in my opinion. One doesn't reach this status in life ,considering the era he was born in;in a poor village of the deep South of the United States of America without some brain ,discipline and determination.I want to konow this man better.

many people hate thomas because he is a man of principles. i disagree with him on many issues, but we have to admit that he is a courageous man. he could have easily taken the easy route predetermined for a black man. the problems that many liberals have against thomas is that he would dare to think individually. they would want thomas to think racially
when it comes to assessing issues intellectually.
they would call him scalito as if he is incapable of independent thought--- as if all of his judgements are carbon-copies of judge scalito. there are white associates judges who vote similarly on issues, but yet no one would diminish either one by calling them carbon-copies of one another.
to these critics, it is improbable that judge scalito and thomas are similar intellectually.
yes, stereotypical tactics were used against thomas. why would such a combative woman wait 16 years to denounce thomas?
it is not an agenda, clarence thomas rarely gives interviews. so, all the networks would jump at the chance of interviewing him.
I respect thomas though we have different views on abortion and other matters.
I also understand what thomas means when he says the north is more racist than the south.
what he means is that in the south, black people are not invisible. they may be despised but their presence is acknowldged. their potential is recognized for why would white southerners come up with rumors of black conspiracy?
white southerners must have at least recognized black potential for them to accuse them of conspiracy in the first place? he says that a white southerner would call me nigger today, then the next minute would drink after me; but the northerner would not call me nigger, but yet would not fraternize with me in any intimate ways.
this is thomas' argument against forceful school integration.
he says that if it were essential that a black kid be seated next to a white kid for the black kid to learn, then there would be something inherently wrong with the mental development of the black kid. he does not believe that that is the case. in fact, he believes that forcefull integration is based on underlying white-supremacy beliefs that white paternalism and intimate fraternization are essential to a black's mental development. therefore, he argues, the more we demand integration with whites, the more we reinforce white-supremacy beliefs. it is as if, we determine our values in terms of our association with whites, argues thomas.

I agree with him 100% on his argument of school integration.I refuse to believe that a black kid needs to be transported many miles to be integrated in a white school where the teacher doesn't care about his/her progress.
but even on the issue of abortion ,Sunday he articulated his position very well.

I am glad keen you responded to this enigma.The man could be one of the most intelligent black men of his generation.

Guys,

I don't understand your reactions about Clarence Thomas.

To each his own,as the saying goes ,for my part I despise the man.

He is one of the worst enemies ,the black man has in the United States.

Ask yourselves a simple question.Why, are the worst reactionaries in the United States so enamored of Clarence Thomas?

The ultra rightists talk show hosts like the Rush Limbaughs,the Sean Hannitys, spend their time praising Clarence Thomas ;Why is that?

No Thomas is not an independent thinker,he is like the man who used a ladder to save himself and when he got to a safe height,he took the ladder with him.

Joel

I am not so sure that Justice Thomas is the man who used a ladder to save himself and when he got to a safe height ,he took the ladder with him "as you said."Only the man who makes the voyage can speak truly about it."William F.Buckley Jr.This is the reason why I bought his book:"My Grandfather's son"to know the man better.I am reading so many books at the same time that i do not have enough time ti finish his yet ,but suffice to say that I was surprised so far by what he wrote.

Clarence Thomas could well be a very disatisfied man , very intolerant of the hypocrisy of the liberals who talk the talk ,but do not walk the walk.I would like you to read the book ;perharps you would have a different opinion of the man.

San Malis,

Some pundits have described Clarence Thomas ,as the most conservative member of the Supreme Court.

In the 16 years ,he has been on the Supreme Court bench,he has never taken a decision which has benefited minorities,any minority.

He could pontificate as much as he wants in his book ,but what does his record say?

Yes,the liberals could walk straighter than they do right now ,but if Clarence Thomas and his conservative friends have their way ,we could easily be back to the "separate but equal"ways of the 1950s.
And as you know ,in the 1950s,blacks were separate but certainly not equal.

Clarence Thomas in his interview in 60 minutes said:I refuse to be put in a boxe;nobody should tell me becuase i am black I suppose to think a certain way.He said :"Justice Scalia does not defend Italian Americans"In other words his role in the Supreme Court of the United States is not to defend a group of people ,but to intepret the laws and write opinions accordingly.

I am not an apologist of the conservatism philosophy,however I refuse to condemn a man for his beliefs and positions without listening to what he has to say ;that is the reason I ask the question:Who is Clarence thomas?Is he the Uncle Tom described by so many ?As he said in the book:"Parts of my voyage have already been written about by other people ,but some of what they've written has been untrue ;at times grossly so,and I didn't want to leave the telling to those with careless hands or malicious hearts.

Rightly or wrongly ,I have an abiding faith that my story will someday be important to someone ans so I have done my best to speak truly in thes pages about my family,my friends ,and myself."

I will continue to cite some interesting passages in the book as I progress in my lecture,My goal is not to condone his stand or conducts ,but to understand his realities.The reasons why he is the man he is.