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Clarence
Thomas and the Republican Right
April 15, 2002
By Christian Dewar
According to a recent report by the Citizens' Commission
on Civil Rights, the Bush administration is pursuing policies
that serve to resegregate America. The report claims that
there is now a "judicial assault on civil rights" and that
"We may awaken from our current preoccupation with national
security to find ourselves a nation more divided, less equal,
and therefor less secure, than before". The report claims
that "These decisions have reversed the progress of earlier
years and lead to a trend towards resegregating America."
One commission member said that Bush's 'compassionate conservatism'
"amounts to a sham".
The last Republican convention that chose George W. Bush
as their candidate for the presidency looked like a gathering
of the Rainbow Coalition. Blacks on the podium discussed racism
as Native Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics recited
the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem. Yet,
on the floor of the convention there were only around 100
blacks out of 2000 delegates on the floor, around five per
cent of the total.
Jesse Jackson Jr., in discussing the Starr persecution of
Bill Clinton, was quoted as saying, "Let us not be confused.
The Republicans are impeaching Social Security, they are impeaching
affirmitive action, they are impeaching women's right to choose,
they are impeaching Medicare, Medicaid, Supreme Court justices
who believe in equal protection under the law for all Americans.
Something deeper in history is happening than sex, lying about
sex and perjury." (In light of allegations that Thomas may
have perjured himself at his confirmation as to whether he
had ever previously discussed 'Roe v. Wade' before, and David
Brock's revelation about Thomas's real behavior in the Anita
Hill controversy in his new book, 'Blinded by the Right',
Jackson's references to perjury and lying about sex may seem
especially relevant.)
Republicans have not exactly been the champions of blacks
in recent years when it comes to equal rights and desegregation.
What, for instance, can Thomas be thinking about the close
association of Attorney General John Ashcroft and the head
of the DEA, Asa Hutchinson, with Bob Jones University? This
school fought desegregation tooth and nail. When blacks were
finally admitted, interracial dating was forbidden. Clarence
could not have even courted his white wife if he had attended
school there! This institution has a policy of non-discrimination
when it comes to discrimination. They hate almost everybody!
They also try to bar gay alumni from the school, label Catholicism
as 'satanism' and call the poor, infirm pope the Anti-Christ.
(For that matter, what does the devoutly Catholic, Anton Scalia
think of Bob Jones University?) Did Thomas ever pause to think
when George W. Bush visited the school as he was seeking the
nomination? Did it make him wonder when allies of Bush slandered
McCain and his adopted daughter from Bangaladesh with racist
innuendo?
As governor of Missouri, Ashcroft resisted segregation and
affirmative action programs. He lobbied to defeat the appointment
of Ronnie White to a judgeship, slandering the man by calling
him pro-criminal. White would have been the first black federal
judge from Missouri. If you are a black woman in Ashcroft's
America, it would seem that you are doomed. According to an
ACLU report on the attorney general entitled, "Not Moderate,
Not Compassionate, Not Conservative", Ashcroft "sponsored
legislation that would prohibit the use of affirmative action
in federal employment, contracting, and other federal programs
and activities" and that as a U.S. Senator, he "voted to eliminate
programs...to help businesses owned by women and minorities."
The report states that "the Justice Department defends the
very programs that Ashcroft sought to eliminate-including
the federal contractor nondiscrimination requirements and
program-specific minority and women-owned business provisions."
Ashcroft too, is non-discriminatory when it comes to discriminating.
He doesn't seem particularly predisposed towards gays, either,
trying to thwart their appointment to political office. He
believes that they choose their sexual orientation. Ashcroft
has asked potential male employees if they had the same preferences
as most men. He has been quoted as saying, "Well, you know,
I believe that the Bible calls [homosexuality] a sin and that
defines sin for me." (Do you suppose Ashcroft hates Dick Cheney's
gay daughter, Mary?)
What can Thomas possibly think about the links of several
prominent Republicans to the Southern Partisan? This magazine
has called South African blacks "blood thirsty savages". The
Partisan has claimed that David Duke represented the "American
Ideal". They praised Duke as "a candidate concerned with 'affirmative'
discrimination, welfare profligacy, the taxation holocaust...a
Populist for recapturing the American idea."
One author claimed that slave owners were concerned about
the "peace and happiness" of their slaves. Another article
says that "Neither Jesus or the Apostles nor the early church
condemned slavery...there is no indication that slavery is
contrary to Christian ethics". They consider Abraham Lincoln
a "consumate conniver, manipulator and a liar." An edition
published in the Spring of 1984 discusses "the sinister Emancipation
Proclamation of President Lincoln - an invitation to the slaves
to rise against their masters." (Colin?)
If you are not a straight male of specific Northern European
ancestry, you are in real trouble with these people. One article
said that "Negros, Asians and Orientals have no temperament
for democracy". One article states that "Italians, Jews and
Puerto Ricans" live in New York, not "Americans". (Anton?
Ari?) Another article claims that, "The tides of immigration
turned negative: were characterized by the losers of political
history...the Italians and the Irish...the dull-spirited and
pagan, such as the Scandinavians...and by peoples to whom
the tenets of our republic were altogether aliens, such as
the heiratic Jews...". As for the role of women, the Partisan
has stated that, Feminism is a "revolt against God" and that
"Feminists, ethnic minorities, sodomites and other 'victims'
of the majority culture are demanding special recognition
and priviledged status." (Condi?) Ashcroft has been quoted
praising the work of the Southern Partisan. He stated that
the southern revisionist must stand up for these beliefs "or
else we'll be taught that these people [confederate soldiers]
were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes
and their honor to some perverted agenda." Here is a question
for Supreme Court Justice Thomas: If Ashcroft were to sue
someone for calling him a homophobe, a racist and a mysogynist,
do you think that a jury would find that the statements were
libel or would the defendant be judgement proof? No wonder
the attorney general is endorsed by the John Birch Society.
What do you suppose is going through Thomas' brain when he
hears about Bush's links to the southern apologists such as
the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Council of
Conservative Citizens which has been referred to as the 'Uptown
Klu Klux Klan'? The CCC claimed that Dr. Martin Luther King
was a communist. (This, of course didn't keep Bush from appearing
with Corretta Scott King on the day commemorating her husband
to declare the great civil rights leader 'an American hero'.
Blacks constitute a valuable voting block and must be assidiously
courted or disenfranchised, depending on how they are expected
to vote at the polls.) Writers for the CCC have also stated
that whites are superior to blacks in "intelligence, law abidingness
(sic), sexual restraint [and] academic performance". What
of Bush's refusal to take a stand on the flying of the 'Stars
and Bars' over government buildings, a flag which has extreme
racial connotations for our nation's blacks?
What does Thomas think of Rep. Bob Barr and Trent Lott's
close association with the CCC? As Fairness and Accuracy in
Media has pointed out, Barr was the key note speaker at the
Council's national conference and was pictured in the group's
newsletter, Citizens Informer, addressing the Council's board
and posing with several CCC leaders. FAIR also points out
that the Washington Times and the Village Voice have both
reported that Sen. Lott is a longtime member and supporter
of the organization. Jesse Helms has been a featured speaker.
FAIR also points out that the CCC website featured an essay
titled "A Call to White Americans" which urges "fellow white
Americans to look at the faces around you: Find the faces
like yours and see them as your brothers and sisters. Find
the fair-skinned babies and see them as your children." Another
section of their web site featured a screed called "Our War"
with one section entitled "The Values of the Traditional White
South That Have Been Targeted for Destruction". It doesn't
sound like they would want to have much to do with Thomas.
And what does Thomas make of the Neo-Nazi, former Klan leader
David Duke running as a Republican? The CCC supported his
political campaigns. The CCC has featured white separtists
as guests to discuss topics like "black intellectual inferiority".
They named Lester Maddox as their "Patriot of the Century"
and as FAIR points out, the CCC is critical of the Promise
Keepers "because PK kisses up to Catholics and grovels to
blacks."
Some people must have wondered whether Clarence Thomas agreed
with Bush when he refused to sign hate crimes legislation
after the dragging death of James Bradey by Neo-Nazis? Was
he appalled at the indifference of Bush towards Bradey's relatives
when they beseeched him to support the bill that would have
given special protection to those attacked because of race,
gender or sexual orientation? As a justice, was he bothered
when Bush refused to grant a pardon to a black inmate, Kevin
Boyd, who had spent 12 years in prison and then was exonerated
when DNA proved conclusively that he could not have been the
rapist?
What about the complaints by the NAACP when Bush was governor
of Texas that his organization provided hardly any jobs for
blacks on the construction and operation of the Texas Ranger
stadium which was paid for by the taxpayers of Texas?
Does Thomas rally behind Bush's efforts to appoint anti-civil
rights judges? What of the Pickering nomination? As a law
student, he had written articles in support of segregation.
He intervened to try and reduce the sentence of a man who
burned a cross on the lawn of a mix-marriage couple and then
fired shots into their house. (nevermind Pickering's lackluster,
mediocre career in jurisprudence with an impressive number
of reversals to his credit). vWhat does Thomas think of allegations
that Chief Justice Reinquist as a Republican operative in
Arizona challenged and harrassed minorities at polling stations
in an effort to intimidate them from voting?
What does Thomas think of Dick Cheney? This is a man who
opposed sanctions for South Africa because of their apartheid
policies. He was against requesting the release of Nelson
Mandella from prison.
What does he think of Pat Buchannan's racist screeds, which
as Molly Ivins points out, sound better in the original German?
In the 1996 primary, his campaign chairman had to resign when
his ties to white supremacist became known. What about reports
of Ann Coulter's anti-Semitism, her slurring of Mineta with
overtones of perjudice against Asians and her opinion that
there should be racial profiling of 'swarthy males'? (Are
blacks considered swarthy?)
Surely, Thomas must be aware that the Republican party is
the home of the former secretary of the interior, James Watt,
an anti-enviromentalist and mentor to Gale Norton. He once
commented, with a certain subtle lack of consideration for
political correctness, that "We have every kind of mix you
can have. I have a black. I have a woman, two Jews and a cripple."
The Republican party was also the home of the racially sensitive
Earl Butz who once commented, "I'll tell you what the coloreds
want. It's three things: first, a tight pussy; second, loose
shoes; and third, a warm place to shit." Now, there is a 'compassionate
conservative'!
Could Thomas possibly have reservations about Jeb Bush? Does
it bother him that when asked by a black women when he was
running for office, what he would do for Afro-Americans if
elected, that his response was, "Probably nothing." What about
his efforts to dismantle affirmative action programs? By now,
even the main stream press is being forced to acknowledge
that Jeb and Katherine Harris deliberately planned to disenfranchise
black voters. According to books such as 'The Best Democracy
Money Can Buy' by Greg Palast, Moore's 'Stupid White Men'
and 'Jews for Buchanan', black votes were surpressed by the
use of faulty voting machines in predominantly black neighborhoods,
the purging of innocent people wrongly accused of being felons,
faulty ballots, the relocation of voting centers days before
the election without announcement, police roadblocks near
minority polls to intimidate and harrass blacks and the lack
of computers for voter verification at the polls.
Jeb's father, G.H.W. Bush doesn't seem to have a great deal
of sensitivity either when it comes race relations. He was
an enthusiastic fan of eugenics, birth countrol for the citizen's
of third world countries. Jeb's wife is from Mexico. The former
president once referred to Jeb's children as 'the little brown
ones'.
What can Clarence Thomas think about the rampant racism that
exists to this day in the Republican party? What about Condi
Rice? Powell? Or Colin's son, Michael, the head of the FCC?
There is no rule that one owes an allegiance or loyalty to
others of their race except perhaps in someones's version
of heaven, but it is ironic that as a Supreme Court Justice,
Thomas's political stance serves to deny that justice to other
blacks. Having benefitted from policies designed to ensure
that, as a black, he would have certain advantages in gaining
an education and a career to compensate for years of discrimination
against his race, he would now end that benefit for other
Afro-Americans. Now, being firmly in place at the Supreme
Court, it seems that Thomas and other blacks in this administration
are pulling up the rope before other minorities can climb
aboard.
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines the slang term 'shill'
as a "person who poses as a customer in order to decoy others
into participating, as at a gambling house or confidence game...a
person who publicizes or praises something or someone for
reason of self-interest" or personal profit. Blacks in the
administration of George W. Bush serve to give the cosmetic
appearance of racial equality to the Republican party and
may sucker some minorities into voting for them, but to anyone
who has paid attention to the policies of Dubya and his supporters,
they know that they plan to turn back the quest for equality
several decades.
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