Public interest in Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has always confused me. Thomas represents the exact kind of person one would think the media would be eager to report on. Born into a poor black family that had first-hand experience with Southern racism, he graduated from Yale and now holds a prestigious, powerful position of political authority. Yet Thomas, in contrast to just about every other member of the Court, seems to receive comparatively little attention from the media and African-American groups. And what interest he does draw is decidedly negative. Having read Myron Magnet’sClarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution, I better understand why. It’s not just his politics. He doesn’t fit their narratives.
Thomas’s life begins like many other African Americans growing up in the Jim Crow South. His mother divorced his father when he was a little boy. She then gave him to grandparents in Savannah. From them he learned a strong work ethic and religious piety. He entered Catholic seminary, only to leave when a white seminarian, speaking of the assassination of MLK, declared, “I hope the son of a bitch dies.” While in college, Thomas embraced black radicalism. Yet a violent protest on Harvard Square unnerved him. He begged God to purge him of “rage and resentment,” eschewed victimhood, and determined to pursue personal excellence.
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