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In a new book, Thomas chided an “arrogant” reporter who questioned his mother about the number of children she had.
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“How can you be so arrogant to tell a woman how many children she had?” he told filmmaker Michael Pack.
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The lawyer discussed the media criticism he faced after Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment.
When Clarence Thomas went through the Supreme Court confirmation process in 1991, he knew there would be questions about his legal record, especially since he was a sitting judge on the highly influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
However, after Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment while working with him at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the media storm prompted reporters to learn more about the judge’s background.
Thomas recalled in a newly released book how some in the media questioned the existence of Pin Point, Georgia, the small community outside of Savannah where he was born, and one reporter even asked his mother about how many children she’d given birth to.
In the book“Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words,” edited by Michael Pack and Mark Paoletta, the conservative lawyer spent more than 30 hours with Pack between November 2017 and March 2018, in what constitutes an extensive the documentary of 2020 with the same name.
Thomas wondered in the interview why he would mislead anyone about his hometown, and told how his mother asked a reporter to leave her house.
“Initially when the media heard I was from Pin Point, they said Pin Point didn’t exist. And that was really funny,” he told Pack.
He continued: “These guys know so much. They said, ‘You’re a liar.’ Who would lie about where you come from? It’s easy to prove, and who would lie about it?”
Thomas was incredulous at the behavior of one of the reporters who looked into his mother’s background.
“One of the reporters went to Savannah and argued with my mother about how many children she had. How do you argue with a woman about how many children she had?’ he said. “She eventually had to tell them to leave.”
Thomas added: “He said they can only find records for two children. How can you be so arrogant to tell a woman how many children she had? But I think it’s just as arrogant to tell people what their opinion should be just because of their race.”
Thomas was eventually confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 52-48, but not after a heated series of hearings, where he vigorously defended Hill’s claims.
Read the original article Business Insider