HBO's Confirmation last night was a display of Thomas' own self-hatred thru internalized racism
Last edited Mon Apr 18, 2016, 12:25 PM - Edit history (1)
It's no secret that Justice Clarence Thomas is a text-book case for the internalized racist, self-hating black man in America. Every time he opens his mouth, that self-hatred of his own black skin spills out like a sieve. That self-hatred of his own blackness and his own adoption of every conceivable aspect of white supremacist, anti-black bias is what has him the darling of the modern day conservative movement.
The excellent program on HBO last night didn't have to spell it out, but it did highlight the fact that Thomas' victims of sexual harassment were all black women. Now, this is extremely important to note, because it applies to how white supremacy and anti-black bias is inflicted on black women in our society; treating black women as nothing more than than oversexed whores, sexual objects, merely the constituents of their own body parts. According to Thomas' targets of sexual aggression, his own language reflected the vile stereotypes that he believes about black women in general. It's no wonder why the right wing conservatives in both the Senate and in the media, staunchly defended Thomas' confirmation, in spite of the strong case against him, because if there's anyone that white right wingers hate more than the black man, it's the black woman.
Back in 2007, Glen Ford of Alternate's Black Agenda Report, wrote an excellent article detailing Thomas' problems with self-hatred, internalized racism and anti-black bias and doing it much better than I ever can. So, I'm excerpting and linking it here for all to reflect upon.
Thomas is often described as a "complicated" personality, but that's just a euphemism for being a self-loathing ally of the worst sections of the white ruling class.
By Glen Ford / Black Agenda Report October 12, 2007
Clarence Thomas is a deeply troubled man -- a grotesquely twisted, "Down Home"-grown Black personality at war with the demons of his dark-skinned, dirt poor youth. Although Thomas has accumulated many "enemies" -- earned and imagined -- since his entrance to the white world in the 10th grade in Savannah, Georgia, his core pathology is Black-directed -- a trait so obvious it was immediately perceived by a succession of white Republican racists who rocketed him to the U.S. Supreme Court with obscene haste to become a hit-man against his own people.
Thomas is a perverse right-wing joke played on Blacks and, being of above average intelligence despite his mental illness, he knows it. But it is a knowledge he cannot endure, a burden that has made him a pathological liar, who blurts out contradictions so antithetical to each other that they cannot possibly coexist in the same brain without a constant roiling and crashing that puts him at flight from himself and all those who remind him of his now hopelessly entangled torments and tormentors.
If African Americans had our own insane asylum, Thomas would be welcomed in and cared for, with proper compassion for the sorely afflicted. But there are no such facilities available to treat a man who forgives whites for Jim Crow and every other aspect of past and present discrimination -- indeed, embraces the most racist among them -- but can never forgive Blacks for the way they treated him in Savannah, Georgia and the outlying shanty town of Pin Point.
Thomas, the affirmative action kid, should have gone to Yale, where he proved to be as adept at navigating the curriculum as at least half the rest of the class. He should not have ascended anywhere near the U.S. Supreme Court, or to any government agency that affects the fate of the people he despises, and has since childhood felt despised by: African Americans, the only group that could make his young psyche scream by calling him "ABC" -- "America's Blackest Child."
http://www.alternet.org/story/64929/clarence_thomas,_the_anti-black/
Lastly, I want to go on record for thanking Prof. Anita Hill on her bravery, her forthrightness and her dedication. She typifies the living embodiment of the strong, intelligent black woman and we are all privileged and honored to hear her story. White racists and their black sycophant, in Thomas, were all intent on destroying her.
They failed miserably.
Instead, she was instrumental in inspiring people of color, women and anti-racists of all colors to push back against endemic American white supremacy and sexism. I was privileged to see that happen with my own eyes.
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