Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Nomination
On July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court of the United States to replace Thurgood Marshall, who had announced his retirement. The nomination proceedings were contentious from the start, especially over the issue of abortion, and many women's groups and civil rights groups opposed Thomas on the basis of his conservative political views, as they had also opposed Bush's Supreme Court nominee from the previous year, David Souter.
Toward the end of the confirmation hearings, allegations by Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas at the United States Department of Education and then at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), were leaked to the media from a confidential FBI report. The allegations led to a media frenzy and further investigations. Televised hearings were re-opened and held by the Senate Judiciary Committee before the nomination was moved to the full Senate for a vote. Thomas was confirmed by a narrow majority.
Read more about Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Nomination: Nomination, Early Hearings, Allegations About Sexual Comments, Senate Confirmation, Cultural Impact
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“I’m not an Uncle Tom.... I’m going to be here for 40 years. For those who don’t like it, get over it.”
—Clarence Thomas (b. 1948)
“Roll forth, my song, like the rushing river,
That sweeps along to the mighty sea;”
—James Clarence Mangan (1803–1849)
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—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“The woman and the genius do not work. Up to now, woman has been mankind’s supreme luxury. In all those moments when we do our best, we do not work. Work is merely a means to these moments.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
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—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)
“In ancient times—’twas no great loss—
They hung the thief upon the cross:
But now, alas!—I say’t with grief—
They hang the cross upon the thief.”
—Anonymous. “On a Nomination to the Legion of Honour,” from Aubrey Stewart’s English Epigrams and Epitaphs (1897)