Thomas, Clinton, and Me Too
Thomas
In the early 1990s Justice Clarence
Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States. He had after
his graduation from the College of the Holy Cross married a Black women from
Worcester MA and they had a son.
At the time of his nomination. Justice
Thomas had divorced his wife and married a White woman. This was not unusual
and some Black people would say that he had the “fever”. A term that meant that
some Black men preferred White woman. Although many think it is a loving marriage,
other thought it to be a sign of his rejection of the aspirations of Black
people.
While at Holy Cross Thomas was very
respectful of Black women. He had a theory that Black women became lesbians in
reaction to being mistreated by Black men. Because of this I was surprised when
Anita Hill complained that she was the victim of sexual harassment by Thomas.
What convinced me she was telling the
truth was her testimony that Thomas jokingly said “Isn’t that pubic hair on
that coke can?”. He had said the same to
me and others while at Holy Cross. Ms.
Hill also testified that Mr. Thomas would talk of about large penises. Mr.
Thomas at Holy Cross used to say that Black men from Georgia who ate ham had
penises so long that they had to strap them to their legs.
It was something of an irony when Mr.
Thomas played the race card in his defense against Ms. Hill.
Clinton
There is no doubt that Bill Clinton
was a cheat, a womanizer, and a liar. Clinton’s victims, Flowers, Lewinsky, and
other are looked down upon by many in society. I would like to hear arguments
that President Clinton is not a narcissist, using the pretense of helping poor
people to further his fame and fortune. His real legacy is mass incarceration
of Black people and adversely reducing the safety net of the unemployed, the
poor, and the homeless.
I voted for him in 1992 and again in 1996. My
vote was motivated by the concept that “It is the economy, stupid”. I have not
voted for a Democratic presidential candidate subsequently.
Curiously Charles Barkley, a former
professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers, got it right.
Shortly after Doug Jones won the senate seat in Alabama, Barkley said that the
Democratic Party should no longer take Black working people and the poor for
granted.
It is ironic that presidential
candidate Al Gore, about whom I have
heard nothing bad, lost his presidential bid due in large part to the impeachment
of President Clinton for his role in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Clinton like
Nixon should have resigned and allowed Gore to be President before the 2000
election.
Also ironic is how Secretary Hilary
Clinton came to be seen as an enabler of a asexual harasser, instead of a “good
wife”. President Clinton’s actions negatively impacted many people he should
have protected.
Such a resignation was never in the
character of a narcissist womanizer.
Me Too
The “Me Too” movement has brought
weight to the complaints by women of sexual harassment. Women had little
credibility before the “Me Too” movement. Even when women were believed very few
people cared, Just ask Paula Jones and Anita Hill. This trend of not caring, upsettingly was continued by many Trump supporters. President Trump has many
accusers and a taped admission of his intentions to wrongfully sexually harass
women.
Conclusion
The “Me Too “movement success will be
measured by its success against Presidents, such as President Trump and
President Clinton. Another measure of its success will be how seriously society
takes the complaints of sexual harassment, especially the allegations made by
dark skin women.
