Clarence Thomas tells black lawyers, he'll still oppose affirmative action

Jet, August 17, 1998

Declaring his independence from other prominent Blacks, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently told the National Bar Association that he intends to continue to oppose affirmative action and hold fast to other conservative views.

"I make no apologies ... nor do I intend to do so in the future," Thomas told the audience of more than 1,000 Black lawyers and judges at the National Bar Association's recent convention in Memphis.

For years denounced by minority-rights groups, Thomas decided to attend the convention even after some members sought to rescind his invitation and keep him away.

"I come here today not in anger or to anger ... not to defend my views but to assert my right to think for myself," Thomas said. He told his critics to stop telling him, "I have no right to think the way I do because I am Black."

He noted, "I reserve the right not to have my views assigned to me as if I was an intellectual slave."

Referring to affirmative action, Thomas said, "Any effort, policy or program that (in some way accepts the notion) that Blacks are inferior is a non-starter with me."

Though he speaks on college campuses and elsewhere, Thomas often confines his comments to inspirational, up-from-the-bootstraps messages. Never before has he tried to take on his critics so fully.

He said he is deeply hurt when portrayed as an enemy of his race. "It pains me deeply, more deeply than any of you can imagine, to be perceived by so many members of my race as being a harm," he stated. "All the sacrifice, all the long hours studying, were to help, not to hurt."

He noted, "Isn't it time to move on ... to realize that being angry with me is no solution? Isn't it time that we respect ourselves and each other as we have demanded respect from others?" the justice asked.

Much of Thomas' 35-minute speech touched on such frequently visited themes as his grandfather's wisdom, the racism he experienced as a seminary student and his fling as a Black revolutionary in the late 1960s. He took no questions during his appearance at the convention.

Thomas was booed at times and also given polite applause during his speech. Some even gave him a standing ovation. A threatened walkout did not materialize. Some of those in the audience later explained they were applauding Thomas' courage.

While never raising his voice, Thomas ridiculed as "psycho-silliness" criticism that his conservative views spring from racial self-hatred or a denunciation of his roots.

"Despite some of the nonsense that has been said about me by those who should know better ... I am a man. A Black man. An American."

Prominent Retired U.S. Appeals Court Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., who was instrumental in the move to keep Thomas from appearing at the recent convention, said he once had hoped that Thomas would eventually change his views.

"Sadly, I can no longer harbor such hopes, and I sincerely believe that those who continue to pray that Justice Thomas will change are casting their hopes on a man who will not reward their faith in him."

Higginbotham wrote in a letter in May that Thomas "has done more to turn back the clock of racial progress than has perhaps any other African-American public official in the history of this country."

After Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson invited Thomas to speak, Higginbotham criticized her for having given Thomas "an imprimatur that he has never had from any responsible organization within the African-American community or any non-conservative groups of Whites."

Justice Johnson said she was never under the impression that Thomas' appearance would change his conservative views.

"But hope springs eternal, and dialogue and interaction are always good," she said. "This gives Justice Thomas an opportunity to interact with us. Progress is made in small increments," she stated.

Randy Jones, president of the National Bar Association, said after Thomas' speech, "You have to respect him for coming into this group and sticking by his guns." Jones described Thomas' speech as "a semblance of an olive branch."

Jones added, "He spoke from the heart. He's a man who's not afraid to come into the lion's den and face his detractors and critics. I think we all have to respect him for that."