Justice Clarence ThomasIn an editorial arguing for "diversity" on the U.S. Supreme Court after the nomination yesterday of Samuel Alito, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel suggested Justice Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black.
The daily's editorial board, lamenting the choice of a man to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, opined today: "In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America."
The paper said the Alito nomination is "troubling" because "it's liable to divide America" and "it lessens the extent to which the court mirrors the nation's rich diversity."
The editorial board said O'Connor "seems to have grown wiser about diversity as a result of her Supreme Court experience. She came to see the virtues of having a court that looks like America " doubtless a big reason she softened her opposition to affirmative action in recent years."
Last December, a conservative black group asked for an apology from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for criticizing Thomas purportedly because he doesn't, as an African American, adhere to Democratic Party policies.
Asked about Thomas as a possible chief justice, Reid said in an NBC "Meet the Press" interview, "I think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court."
Without providing details or evidence, Reid said, "I think that his opinions are poorly written. I just don't think that he's done a good job as a Supreme Court justice."
Wendell Talley of the national leadership network of black conservatives, Project 21, responded, "Senator Reid has revealed the intolerance found on the political left for minorities who do not reside on their ideological plantation."
Talley noted Thomas "has been in the public eye for approximately 15 years and conducted himself with integrity."
"Reid seemed to be around just 15 minutes before he made a fool of himself," Talley said. "He should apologize to Justice Thomas for his comments."
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Project 21 member Mychal Massie, a WND columnist, said he considered Reid's comments to be "among the boldest and most unambiguously racist public attacks since the day when lynchings were commonplace and Orval Faubus and Bull Connor openly used their political power to keep blacks down."
"The fact that Justice Thomas may become our nation's first black chief justice is a tremendous civil rights milestone, but it will be a tremendous step backward if he were undermined simply for being a black conservative," Massie said. "Not only will it hurt Justice Thomas personally, but it could stifle future generations of black Americans from expressing independent and diverse political opinions."
RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
Skin color yes. Typical no.
He's thinks and decides freely for himself and actually has a clue...JC Watts andAlan Keyesmust not be"black" either.
Apparently black is a mindset. And if that is the caseI know some white folks who are "black."
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RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
Using that logic, I guess the paper wants SC Justices who represent our nation's diversity of thnicity rather than the most qualified Justices who would make the best legal decisions. [:'(]
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RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
funny, I didn't see anything in Reid's comments, as quoted above, invoking Thomas's race. rather, he just criticised his abilities as a jurist. it was the conservative black group that injected race into the mix. seems both sides of the spectrum play the race card, when convenient.
RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
Obviously, you didn't read the article. Nobody responding to this thread mentioned Reid's comments. My comment was directed at this excerpt from the article, which is about nothing BUT race:
The daily's editorial board, lamenting the choice of a man to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, opined today: "In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America."
I'm shocked you didn't see this, but focused exclusively on some other comments that appeared later in the article [:-]
RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
I suppose Justice Thomas should arrive at the Supreme Court Monday in a pimped-up "ride," wear his slacks halfway down to his knees (and be sure to cut a slit in the back of his robe so we can see them drawers) and start going by Brotha Thomas. He could address his fellow justices upon arrival as, "'Sup, dawgs. You homies ready ta rule on some serious sheet today? Let's get it started up in he'e."
But, seriously, there is a reason folks in Milwaukee who are capable of abstract thinking refer to their hometown news rag as the Urinal-Sentinel. And Senator Reid. . . well, he's one of the Democrat leaders. What more should we expect from him?
I don't know how Mr. Reid interprets America's form of democracy, but I thought the purpose of our judges was to interpret our Constitution and rule accordingly, not rule according to whether they're white folk or black folk.
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RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
Quote:
ORIGINAL: DougMD
Obviously, you didn't read the article. Nobody responding to this thread mentioned Reid's comments. My comment was directed at this excerpt from the article, which is about nothing BUT race:
The daily's editorial board, lamenting the choice of a man to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, opined today: "In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America."
I'm shocked you didn't see this, but focused exclusively on some other comments that appeared later in the article [:-]
you mean the the way you ignored the race card being played against Reid?
quite the contrary, I read the article. the WHOLE article. I felt compelled to point out the race issue in the second half, since the idiocy of the "asterisk" editorial had been quite competently pointed out by others. see, there were people playing race games against CT in the first half of the column, on behalf of the left. in the second half of the article, they were playing race games against Reid on behalf of the right. i was attempting to provide balance. to show both spectrum use the race card when it suits their needs.
fair and balanced. that's somebody's slogan, isn't it?
RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
My TOPIC was about race, and all posts up till yours did not mention Reid's comments. Still, you tried to make this about some other issue.
Nevertheless..... What is Reid going to say. If he is racist, he's not going to say he hates Thomas because he's black. He's going to say that he think Thomas' work is poor. As the article said, he made his accusations "without providing details or evidence." Seems to me if you accuse someone of something, you should have evidence to back it up.
Back to the point about people not counting Thomas as black because he isn't a democrat like most blacks are. There is a similar situation in maryland, whereblacks threw oreo cookies at Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele because they say he is "black on the outside and white on the inside," CLEARLY ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF BLACKS NOT COUNTING AS BLACKS WHEN THEY ARE REPUBLICANS. THEY MAKE IT ABOUT RACE, NOT THE REPUBLICANS.
RE: Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
Quote:
ORIGINAL: DougMD
My TOPIC was about race, and all posts up till yours did not mention Reid's comments. Still, you tried to make this about some other issue.
No, i kept my post to the very topic you initiated.
to be perfectly accurate, your post was about race and, let's see what was it? ah yes, "lefties" was the term you used. this of course, implies discussion about the tendencies of those who occupy certain ideological zones within the political spectrum.
my initial response was about race as well, using a portion of the very article you provided to us, in order to show that both ends of the political spectrum play the race card when it suits their purposes.
Quote:
Back to the point about people not counting Thomas as black because he isn't a democrat like most blacks are. There is a similar situation in maryland, whereblacks threw oreo cookies at Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele because they say he is "black on the outside and white on the inside," CLEARLY ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF BLACKS NOT COUNTING AS BLACKS WHEN THEY ARE REPUBLICANS. THEY MAKE IT ABOUT RACE, NOT THE REPUBLICANS.
agreed to the extent that what is happening in Maryland is deplorable. equally deplorable that someone can not offer criticism regarding Justice Thomas, or Justice Thurgood Marshall before him, without being accused of racism.
Clarence Thomas doesn't count as a black person?
