Table Of ContentBBllaacckk AAmmeerriiccaannss ooff AAcchhiieevveemmeenntt
LLEEGGAACCYY EEDDIITTIIOONN
ClarSeanvcieo nT hGolmovaesr
SuprEmE COEuNrTTE rJTuASITNIECrE
Black Americans of Achievement
LEGACY EDITION
Muhammad Ali
Maya Angelou
Josephine Baker
George Washington Carver
Ray Charles
Johnnie Cochran
Frederick Douglass
W.E.B. Du Bois
Jamie Foxx
Marcus Garvey
Savion Glover
Alex Haley
Jimi Hendrix
Gregory Hines
Langston Hughes
Jesse Jackson
Scott Joplin
Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King Jr.
Spike Lee
Malcolm X
Bob Marley
Thurgood Marshall
Barack Obama
Jesse Owens
Rosa Parks
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Chris Rock
Clarence Thomas
Sojourner Truth
Harriet Tubman
Nat Turner
Madam C.J. Walker
Booker T. Washington
Oprah Winfrey
Tiger Woods
Black Americans of Achievement
Legacy eDITION
Clarence Thomas
SuprEmE COurT JuSTICE
Vicki Cox
Clarence Thomas
Copyright © 2008 by Infobase Publishing
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cox, Vicki.
Clarence Thomas / by Vicki Cox. — Legacy ed.
p. cm. — (Black Americans of achievement)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60413-048-5 (hardcover)
1. Thomas, Clarence, 1948– 2. Judges—United States—Biography. [1. United States.
Supreme Court—Biography. 2. African American judges—Biography.] I. Title. II. Series.
KF8745.T48C69 2008
347.73’2634—dc22
[B]
2008010495
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Contents
1 Confirmation Hearings
1
2 Pin Point
10
3 Tough Love
19
4 Seminary Life
29
5 Wearing Combat Boots
40
6 Skin Deep
51
7 Piranhas Feeding
62
8 The Scandal
71
9 Riding the Magic Carpet
82
10 The Last Laugh
93
Chronology 103
Further Reading 105
Index 107
About the Author 112
11
Confirmation Hearings
“Thomas!” “Thomas!” “Thomas!” The crowd filled the corri-
dors of the Russell Senate Office Building, chanting Clarence
Thomas’s name. Policemen and bodyguards wedged into the
crowd, making a path for Thomas and his wife, Virginia. Sup-
porters waved. Some reached out to shake his hand, and one
woman stepped out of the crowd to hug him. Cameramen,
four deep, walked backward in front of him, their cameras’
spotlights shining into Clarence Thomas’s face. Behind their
glare, millions watched as Thomas made his way up the mar-
ble staircase toward the Senate Caucus Room.
Although he smiled and nodded at his supporters as they
gathered around him, Thomas was not in a good mood. In
fact, he was furious. That day, October 12, 1991, had become
the defining moment of his life. He was on his way to fight for
his reputation, save his confirmation to the Supreme Court,
and determine his future. Thomas could just as well have been
ClarenCe Thomas
All Supreme Court nominees must undergo intensive questioning from
the U.S. Senate before they are confirmed. Few, however, can say that
their experience was like that of Clarence Thomas. He appears above
during his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Octo-
ber 1991, his wife behind him.
walking into Rome’s Colosseum. The Caucus Room’s Corin-
thian columns rose two stories to the gilded ceiling, dwarfing
the spectators who crowded into it. The U.S. senators inside,
ready to question him, could just as well have been lions.
The Senate Caucus Room was jammed with 300 spectators,
journalists, and members of Congress who wanted to hear
Clarence Thomas speak. Camera lights were strung across the
room above him. Photographers squatted, knelt, and stood
five deep to Thomas’s right, their telephoto lenses trained on
the stocky black man who had become the center of a nation-
wide scandal.
Confirmation hearings
Thomas sat down at the witness table with a microphone in
front of him. His wife, dressed in a black and white checkered
suit, and Senator John Danforth, his former boss and chief
supporter in the Senate, sat behind him.
Thomas faced the 14 members of the Senate Judiciary Com-
mittee, who were seated behind a curved table, wearing som-
ber dark suits, white shirts, and intense expressions. In front
of each was a clutter of nameplates, microphones, folders, and
pads of paper. Senator Joe Biden, the committee chair, banged
the gavel three times and called the Senate hearing to order.
Behind him hung the United States flag. Senator Edward Ken-
nedy, a Thomas opponent, sat to his left, and Senator Strom
Thurmond, a Thomas supporter, sat to his right. The others
were spread down the massive desk that dominated much of
the room.
Thomas stood, raised his right hand, and swore to tell the
truth. Then he sat down. He opened a manila folder and began
to read his 16-page statement.
Thomas spoke slowly, looking from one committee member
to another. “I have been wracking my brains, and eating my
insides out trying to think of what I could have said or done
to Anita Hill to lead her to allege that I was interested in her in
more than a professional way, and that I talked with her about
pornographic or X-rated films,” he said, according to John
Danforth’s book, Resurrection.
Thomas’s reputation and life was connected to a 35-year-
old law professor from the University of Oklahoma because of
two words: sexual harassment. That professor, Anita Hill, said
that when Thomas was her boss, he had hounded her for dates,
described pornographic material to her, and had insisted on
talking to her about various sex-related topics.
Such behavior for any person—man or woman—is
unthinkable and against the law. Federal law, as later reported
in The New Republic, described sexual harassment as behavior
