A man who knows what prejudice is first hand. What it means to be denied your rights...would not vote for the gay -Trans rights.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2020 08:17PM by samintx.

Clarence Thomas has lived a life of privilege, it's a class thing for people like him and the Senator from South Carolina.

....and he puts pubic hair on a can of coke.......

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

He often takes a meandering path to arrive at the same position as his reactionary white colleagues.

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RgrF
Clarence Thomas has lived a life of privilege, it's a class thing for people like him and the Senator from South Carolina.

I presume you're speaking about his life since - when? - becoming Chair of the EEOC in 1982? Becoming a federal judge in 1990?

He certainly didn't grow up with privilege.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

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rjmacs

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RgrF
Clarence Thomas has lived a life of privilege, it's a class thing for people like him and the Senator from South Carolina.

I presume you're speaking about his life since - when? - becoming Chair of the EEOC in 1982? Becoming a federal judge in 1990?

He certainly didn't grow up with privilege.

He may not have grown up with privilege, but his entire life starting with private college, College of the Holy Cross, for his bachelors degree and Yale for his law degree has been privileged. Right out of Yale he got a job through that Yale connection as Ass't Attorney General of the state of Missouri as part of John Danforth's staff. That connection keeps on getting him farther ahead over the years afterwards, and led to that EEOC appointment.

In some ways he is a good example of people who consider themselves "self made men". He achieved this from a humble beginning, therefore anyone else should be able to do as well. If they can't, it is on them and not the system in which they have failed to succeed.

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JoeH

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rjmacs

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RgrF
Clarence Thomas has lived a life of privilege, it's a class thing for people like him and the Senator from South Carolina.

I presume you're speaking about his life since - when? - becoming Chair of the EEOC in 1982? Becoming a federal judge in 1990?

He certainly didn't grow up with privilege.

He may not have grown up with privilege, but his entire life starting with private college, College of the Holy Cross, for his bachelors degree and Yale for his law degree has been privileged. Right out of Yale he got a job through that Yale connection as Ass't Attorney General of the state of Missouri as part of John Danforth's staff. That connection keeps on getting him farther ahead over the years afterwards, and led to that EEOC appointment.

In some ways he is a good example of people who consider themselves "self made men". He achieved this from a humble beginning, therefore anyone else should be able to do as well. If they can't, it is on them and not the system in which they have failed to succeed.

I think you need to read a lot more about Clarence Thomas' life (beyond a Wikipedia entry) before you make such sweeping statements.

You clearly have no idea what kind of racism and poverty he grew up with, how he was among the first Black students at both Holy Cross and Yale Law, that he spent years as a young professional and father in deep debt, struggling to pay off student loans and make ends meet. You characterization of an adult life paved with easy access to power and a simple trip up the government ladder rings hollow.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

I did say "in some ways". Sort of self explanatory that does not mean in all ways.

So he faced racism and debt, as opposed to just debt, during and after college and law school is a point towards working hard to get there. A high level of debt coming out of law school is the norm for almost all students who do not come from very well off families.

Afterwards he had access to connections that ensured he had well paying jobs to pay off those loans. And that access, while not easily obtained, gave him a boost many rungs higher on the ladder than most get no matter the racial background. His attitude shown in reports on his time at EEOC and his time as a judge has always seemed as if, "I made it, so no one else needs the issue of access addressed". Just does not seem important from his arguments that others at a a disadvantage also get a more equal chance at access.

And I have read a lot more about him than I care to remember. That connection to a college in my state got many articles on him after the nomination to the Court in local and regional papers.

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JoeH
I did say "in some ways". Sort of self explanatory that does not mean in all ways.

So he faced racism and debt, as opposed to just debt, during and after college and law school is a point towards working hard to get there. A high level of debt coming out of law school is the norm for almost all students who do not come from very well off families.

He was only able to attend a Catholic high school and his first year of college because he was at seminary. His childhood was worse than you're remembering.

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JoeH
Afterwards he had access to connections that ensured he had well paying jobs to pay off those loans. And that access, while not easily obtained, gave him a boost many rungs higher on the ladder than most get no matter the racial background. His attitude shown in reports on his time at EEOC and his time as a judge has always seemed as if, "I made it, so no one else needs the issue of access addressed". Just does not seem important from his arguments that others at a a disadvantage also get a more equal chance at access.

I think that's a deep misreading of his thinking about EEOC policies, including affirmative action. A closer reading of his writing and interviews shows that his chief reason for disdaining those policies is because he thinks they are part of a larger lie. The lie that white America will ever voluntarily, through its own systems, give Black people an equal chance at success. In part, this stems from his personal experience of having his Yale Law education consistently de-valued by white colleagues and employers, who told him that they believed he had only been there because of affirmative action, not because he was smart or accomplished enough.

I disagree with Thomas' beliefs about the capacity of our system, but I cannot deny his experience or suggest that his ideas about America aren't plausible, if not inevitable.

I'm not trying to convince you to come to my side - and I appreciate all you've shared about your experience and thinking on this. I'm glad to share the forum with you.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

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He was only able to attend a Catholic high school and his first year of college because he was at seminary. His childhood was worse than you're remembering.

His first years were very bad, not so bad after his mother moved to live with his grandparents when he was 7. His grandfather ran a successful fuel oil delivery business.

As for the rest, some of that comes from my take on the Ayn Rand'ian influences on his thinking.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2020 05:50PM by JoeH.

“ His childhood was worse than you're remembering. “



You know this to be true exactly how?

It’s chickenshit to disparage someone else’s sources without disclosing your own, especially in such an arrogant and insulting manner.

You’ve read his autobiography, perhaps? No chance of a little editorializing there, I’m sure.