Democrat Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina escalated the lefts long-running campaign against conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas by publicly disavowing his own past support for Thomass confirmation and implying the justice has betrayed his race.
According to Gateway Pundit, Clyburn used his appearance on NBCs Meet the Press with host Kristen Welker to renounce his role in backing Thomas more than three decades ago, a move that underscores how far todays Democratic Party has drifted from even basic tolerance of ideological diversity among black Americans. When Welker pressed him, asking, Do you stand by your decision to make the case for Clarence Thomass confirmation? Clyburn responded bluntly, Absolutely not. I have made mistakes in my life and that is one that Ive made.
I will own up to that mistake, he added, before going further and attacking Thomass character and independence. I had no idea that Clarence Thomas would rebel the way he has against his own background and experiences, Clyburn said, effectively suggesting that a black justice who rejects left-wing orthodoxy is somehow illegitimate.
Clyburns remarks came just days after Justice Thomas, in a rare and candid conversation, directly challenged the leftist notion that black Americans must think and vote as a monolithic bloc. Thomas appeared on Senator Ted Cruzs Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast, where he dismantled the idea that his race dictates his politics and reaffirmed his commitment to constitutional conservatism.
We had this saying [that there are] only two things I have to do: stay Black and die, Justice Thomas told Ted Cruz, explaining how he has long rejected ideological requirements imposed on him because of his skin color. That was a retort to people who had these sort of requirements for us, these these mandates for us because of our skin color, he said, describing the pressure to conform to progressive expectations.
But at any rate, they think that heres the way youre supposed to think. Again, heres your skin color. Theres this kind of deterministic view that youre supposed to think this because we say so, Thomas said, highlighting the racial essentialism that now dominates much of the left. He noted that by refusing to submit to that mindset, he has been cast as an anomaly: And I, of course, declined that invitation. And so now that means that something, that Im a walking contradiction because Ive deviated from their perception of what I should think, Justice Thomas said to Ted Cruz.
Thomas, appointed to the Supreme Court by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, has become a symbol of judicial originalism and individual autonomy, which explains why progressive activists and Democrat leaders like Clyburn reserve such particular venom for him. Their attacks reveal less about Thomass integrity than about a political movement that treats independent-minded minorities as heretics, punishing any black conservative who dares to step outside the ideological line.
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