Tuesday, October 02, 2007

ANITA HILL: setting the record straight



"... I will not stand by silently and allow him, in his anger, to reinvent me."

Today's New York Times op-ed by Anita Hill is a must read!
In the portion of his book that addresses my role in the Senate hearings into his nomination, Justice Thomas offers a litany of unsubstantiated representations and outright smears that Republican senators made about me when I testified before the Judiciary Committee ... A number of independent authors have shown those attacks to be baseless. What’s more, their reports draw on the experiences of others who were familiar with Mr. Thomas’s behavior, and who came forward after the hearings. It’s no longer my word against his.

Justice Thomas’s characterization of me is also hobbled by blatant inconsistencies. He claims, for instance, that I was a mediocre employee who had a job in the federal government only because he had “given it” to me. He ignores the reality: I was fully qualified to work in the government, having graduated from Yale Law School (his alma mater, which he calls one of the finest in the country), and passed the District of Columbia Bar exam, one of the toughest in the nation.

Clearly, it is Justice Thomas who is "a mediocre employee" In his time on the Court he has contributed virtually nothing. Of the two, the country would be much better served had Anita Hill been confirmed instead!

9 comments:

Fran said...

Hola desde Barcelona. A quick check of a few blogs.

I am so sorry to read this. It is too long for this comment, but let it suffice to say that I knew an attorney back in those days who had known Thomas way back when.

This rather prominent NYC attorney was not given to foolish talk. This is what he told me then- Thomas was legendary for his hardcore porn collection. It was his habit to leave it on his desk and open and call in female associates.

This so angered this gentleman but nothing was ever done.

I have not forgotten this ever. As someone who has known what it is to be a small voice crying into the wind, I stand by Anita and her unending courage and pride.

He on the other hand is a disgrace.
On many levels.

Distributorcap said...

thomas is a disgrace to the court and constitution

i give anita hill all the redit i the world

the real cowards here are the 52 senators that were too afraid to vote against a black man. the real losers are the american people who got saddled with a piece of shit justice.

thanks 41

BAC said...

Fran, there was another witness waiting in the wings to testify and Biden (who was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee) wouldn't let her.

Dcap ... you are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!


BAC

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Amen sister.

Anonymous said...

I just wrote about the cowards, and how they allowed Thomas to play the "lynching" card, although he goes out of his way to not be "black" 95% of the time.

I'm glad she answered him.

Not to beat a dead horse, but when I bitch about Democrats it's not simply based on the last couple of years. They began this "rollover" decades ago.

Black people, in general, do not like Thomas, but Dems caved to the threat of being called "racist" (By real racists no less) and appointed a fucking fascist to the Supreme Court.

The irony is, their capitulation, in my opinion, was racist.

P M Prescott said...

Truly, this is a case where ACTIONS speak louder than words.

BAC said...

I'm with you on the Dems, fairlane. I was so angry over this nomination, and how Biden in particular handled the situation.

There was at least one other woman, Angela Wright, waiting in the wings to testify that she, too, was sexually harassed by Thomas, but Biden didn’t let her speak.

And if you remember, Anita Hill's testimony all took place during the day -- when most people were at work and wouldn't get a chance to hear her. While Thomas got to deliver his lies in prime time -- with no one there to dispute them.

Far too often the Dems take the cowards way out.


BAC

Anonymous said...

anyone that claims that the 52 senators that voted for Thomas were cowards because they would not vote against a black man is racist.

and i have just one question: why did Hill conveniently wait to share her story until Thomas was being considered for the Supreme Court? Seems a little weird to me.

BAC said...

Anonymous - as someone who was very involved in the "Stop Thomas" movement at the time I can assure you that all the content in the above post is true.

Thomas used race to get his seat when he made comments like "high tech lynching." Here is a man who benefited from the civil rights movement, yet couldn't be less supportive of it now.

It is not uncommon at all for women who are being sexually harassed to not share their story with anyone. If they do they often face retaliation that can result in the loss of their job.

Anita Hill could not, in good conscious, sit quietly by and NOT tell her story when Thomas was being considered for a LIFETIME APPOINTMENT to the U.S. Supreme Court. It took a lot of courage for her to come forward.

She was also not alone. There was a second woman waiting in the wings to also testify, but the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Joe Biden wouldn't let her speak to the committee. Had she been allowed to tell her story, Thomas might not be on the Court today.


BAC