4.8 • 14.7K Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2023
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
To many Americans, Clarence Thomas makes no sense. For more than 30 years on the Court, he seems to have been on a mission — to take away rights that benefit Black people. As a young man, though, Thomas listened to records of Malcolm X speeches on a loop and strongly identified with the tenets of Black Nationalism. This week on More Perfect, we dig into his writings and lectures, talk to scholars and confidants, and explore his past, all in an attempt to answer: what does Clarence Thomas think Clarence Thomas is doing?
Voices in the episode include:
• Juan Williams — Senior Political Analyst at Fox News
• Corey Robin — Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center
• Angela Onwuachi-Willig — Dean of Boston University School of Law
• Stephen F. Smith — Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School
Learn more:
• 1993: Graham v. Collins
• 1994: Holder v. Hall
• 1999: Chicago v. Morales
• 2003: Grutter v. Bollinger
• 2022: Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College
• 2022: Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina
• “The Enigma of Clarence Thomas” by Corey Robin
• “Black Conservatives, Center Stage” by Juan Williams
• “Just Another Brother on the SCT?: What Justice Clarence Thomas Teaches Us About the Influence of Racial Identity” by Angela Onwuachi-Willig
• “Clarence X?: The Black Nationalist Behind Justice Thomas's Constitutionalism” by Stephen F. Smith
• “My Grandfather’s Son” by Justice Clarence Thomas
Supreme Court archival audio comes from Oyez®, a free law project by Justia and the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.
Support for More Perfect is provided in part by The Smart Family Fund.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @moreperfectpodcast, and Twitter @moreperfect.
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0:00.0 | One of America's Supreme Court Justices is an major corruption scam. |
0:10.0 | And you'll never guess who, okay, is Claire Stomach. |
0:13.0 | And just as Thomas has had the courage to define his own approach at the cost of being misunderstood. |
0:25.0 | I'm Julia Lungoria. This is more perfect. |
0:34.0 | Asians should be getting into Harvard more than whites, but they don't because Harvard gives them significantly lower personal ratings. |
0:40.0 | Harvard ranks Asians less likable, confident, and kind. |
0:43.0 | Affirmative action is back at the Supreme Court. |
0:48.0 | Asians students say they're cheated by Harvard and UNC's policies of quote unquote diversity. |
0:55.0 | But while I was listening to lawyers argue, I was transfixed on one person in the room. |
1:02.0 | Someone who used to never speak in court. |
1:05.0 | Now he's the first one to speak up. |
1:09.0 | Mr. Park, I've heard the word diversity quite a few times and I don't have a clue what it means. |
1:16.0 | Justice Clarence Thomas. |
1:18.0 | It seems to mean everything for everyone. |
1:22.0 | Justice Thomas is not a fan of affirmative action. |
1:26.0 | And I've always wondered why. |
1:28.0 | He was the only person of color on the court for nearly 20 years. |
1:33.0 | Could the court use some affirmative action? |
1:36.0 | But throughout that time, he's always been against it. |
1:39.0 | Today, Clarence Thomas is the most senior justice sitting up there. |
1:44.0 | In five more years, he could become the longest serving justice ever on the Supreme Court. |
1:50.0 | And to some Americans, Clarence Thomas makes no sense. |
... |
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