Tuesday, October 2, 2007

not buying it!

Did anyone catch Clarence Thomas on 60 minutes? Apparently, he's written an autobiography, claiming being misunderstood, and I think, is trying to reinvent or re-spin his image. It's funny because I remember the confirmation hearing from when I was a kid. I didn't have any real adult insight into his psyche or why Black folks cried Uncle Tom, so his interview was intriguing. (Which in and of itself is intriguing because I've never really been interested in politics like that).

Well, after careful examination, I'm not buying it. I don't agree with his politics and I've went back and done some research... and he's had made some quite inflammatory statements. What I will never understand... I can get with 'pulling yourself up by your bootstraps,' but what if you have no 'boots' to begin with? If your argument is for 'merit only,' why don't you approach it from both sides of the equation -- no race-based quotas and no legacy systems, "buying your way" into universities/organization (aka WASP affirmative action). Merit is merit is merit. Why won't anyone go there? Simply put, it pisses off the powerful in this country by which "the old boys' network" is the "American Way."

CT is such an enigma because for as much as he claims to hate "tokenism" and "affirmative action" (for people of color), it seems like this is the very role he's playing out in the political arena. And for those who saw the interview, something about his story just doesn't jibe with me (and I love how they glossed over the sexual harassment issue with Anita Hill with his very white wife there to co-sign that it never happened *rolls eyes*). I will NOT be buying the book. And I really like how they tried to reincarnate his image for this next generation who missed all of the details and the mudslinging of the early '90s. I'm just not buying it.

And I think he sexually harassed that woman.

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