Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: A Man of Courage and Intellect



Justice Thomas is a man who has been the target of more false accusations and insults than anyone else in the USA. And yet, he has carried this burden with grace and dignity, never stooping to the level of his detractors. He suffered the indignity of the ludicrous accusations of Anita Hill on national TV during his senate confirmation hearings. He has been repeatedly called "Uncle Tom" and worse by the scum on the left.

Justice Thomas' opinions he has written have shown the intellect of a brilliant jurist. I was particularly heartened by his opinion in the Kelo v. New London case.

Business Week published an interview of Thomas concerning his undergraduate years at Holy Cross:

Q: Why do you think some people are so eager to cast you as a beneficiary of affirmative action?

A: That was the creation of the politicians, the people with a lot of mouth and nothing to say and your industry. They had a story and everything had to fit into their story. It discounts other people's achievements. Ask Ted how many all-nighters he pulled. It discounts those. It's so discouraging to see the fraudulent renditions of very complicated and different lives of people who were struggling in a new world for them. Everything becomes affirmative action. There wasn't some grand plan. I just showed up.

Q: How is the world different for college kids today?

A: You don't go to college to be a decoration. You're not there to please other people. You're there to do better in your own life. The only answer I'm interested in is to the question: Are these kids better off for having gone to a college? If they are, how? Ask that question about the first black kids who went to Holy Cross and the answer is a resounding 'Yes.' Yes, they are better off. Ask yourself that today. What's the attrition rate? It used to be up around 40% or something like that. There was no attrition in my class.

Q: Is it solely because of a mismatch of students and the schools that admit them?

A: I don't know. I don't think people even ask the question any more. I tried for years to get focus on why you actually went to school as opposed to diversity and multiculturalism. I didn't go to school for any of that stuff. I went to school to learn and get on with my life. I wasn't there to prove or disprove anybody else's point. I've thought a lot about these things, and I've spent the bulk of my life, beating my head against a wall, trying to get people to see that they can have their grand theories but, in the end, you can't impose them on other people's kids. How many kids do you have? They're different, aren't they? If your kids are different—and they're all yours—what about just some kids who happen to be different shades of black, different degrees of Negro? They're all from different family settings—some two parents, some no parents, some raised by grandparents. Come on. How can you just all of a sudden treat them as all the same?

Hat tip to John Lott.