Brown University Professor Denounces “Racist, Vicious, and Ugly” Attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas
GoLocalProv News Team and News Editor Kate Nagle
Brown University Professor Denounces “Racist, Vicious, and Ugly” Attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas
Saying that “white progressives do not have the moral authority to excommunicate a black man from his race because they disagree with them,” Brown’s Glenn Loury, a professor of economics, was joined by Robert Woodson Sr. and over a hundred signatories on the missive published to Real Clear Politics on Wednesday.
Woodson is the founder and President of The Woodson Center in Washington, DC.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“We, the undersigned, condemn the barrage of racist, vicious, and ugly personal attacks that we are witnessing on Clarence Thomas – a sitting Supreme Court justice,” the letter states. “Whether it is calling him a racist slur, an ‘Uncle Tom’ or questioning his ‘blackness’ over his jurisprudence, the disparagement of this man, of his faith and of his character, is abominable."
Thomas, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the U.S. Senate in 1991 by a vote of 52-48, has come under fire most recently for his concurring opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Samuel L. Jackson Calls Out 'Uncle Clarence' Thomas After Roe v. Wade Ruling,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The New Yorker examined “What Precedents Would Clarence Thomas Overturn Next?” in a podcast.
Beyond Roe v. Wade, however, there are questions regarding Thomas’ wife Ginni Thomas’ role in urging the White House to overturn the 2020 election results — and Thomas’ vote against Supreme Court decision to compel the release of Donald Trump's records regarding the January 6 insurrection.
A call to impeach Thomas — including an online petition that has gathered over 1.2 million signatures — was addressed by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin when he appeared on Fox News Sunday this past weekend.
“Regardless of where one stands on Justice Thomas’ personal or legal opinions, he is among the pantheon of black trailblazers throughout American history and is a model of integrity, scholarship, steadfastness, resilience, and commitment to the Constitution of the United States of America,” wrote Loury and the signatories in their open letter. “For three decades Justice Thomas has served as a model for our children. He has long been honored and celebrated by black people in this country and his attackers do not speak for the majority of blacks.”
Loury did not respond to request for comment on the article on Wednesday.
In 2202, Loury called for “1619” creator Nikole Hannah-Jones Pulitzer Prize rescinded.
Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer for the New York Times’ multimedia initiative which "aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of [the United States'] national narrative.”
Loury, along with 20 other signatories through the National Academy of Scholars, called Hannah-Jones’ “1619” premise “false.”
“We call on the Pulitzer Prize Board to rescind the 2020 Prize for Commentary awarded to Nikole Hannah-Jones for her lead essay in ‘The 1619 Project,’” they wrote. “That essay was entitled, ‘Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written.’ But it turns out the article itself was false when written, making a large claim that protecting the institution of slavery was a primary motive for the American Revolution, a claim for which there is simply no evidence.”
Hannah Jones fired back.
“If my work makes comfortable powerful people who believe they are the gatekeepers of the American narrative and who should tell it, I am failing. In other words, I am unbothered. I take these actions as a badge of honor,” she said.