Great piece for a great man...Supreme court justice Clarence Thomas
Justice Clarence Thomas ? my friend
For 16 years I sat patiently, I sat silently while they mercilessly slandered your name. For 16 years I sat patiently, I sat silently while they called you all manner of epithets: Uncle Tom, Uncle Clarence Thomas, marginal, a joke, incompetent, a pornographer, traitor, a slave. For 16 years I sat patiently, I sat silently while they caricatured you in blackface as Aunt Jemima and a diminutive lawn jockey on the cover of a national magazine (George Currys Emerge [now defunct]). For 16 years I sat patiently, I sat silently as propagandists like New York Times journalist Adam Cohen explained your 16 years of silence on the bench with claims like: He is afraid that if he speaks he will reveal his ignorance about the case.
For 16 years I sat patiently, I sat silently while our own people black law professors, academics, doctors, lawyers, judges, civil rights activists, mayors, black preachers, teachers, federal and state employees, politicians, journalists, political commentators, Oprah improved their public standing and launched lucrative careers vilifying your name without just cause yet, I sat patiently, I sat silently until now.
I consider Justice Clarence Thomas, born this day 59 years ago, one of the closest friends I will ever have in this life. However, he is not a friend in the traditional sense of knowing someone you grew up with, or even someone you see often or visit with regularly. I have never met the man. Well, Ellis, if you never met Justice Thomas, how can you call him your friend? Justice Thomas is my friend because 16 years ago when I was a freshman law student about to flunk out of law school, this man sent me letters of encouragement urging me Onwards ever backwards, never
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Ellis Washington is a former staff editor of the Michigan Law Review and law clerk at the Rutherford Institute. He is a professor of Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, and Contracts at the National Paralegal College, a counselor at the American College of Education, and a founding board member of Salt and Light Global. Washington is a co-host of "Joshua's Trial," a radio show of Christian conservative thought. A graduate of John Marshall Law School and post-grad work at Harvard Law School, his latest law review article is titled, "Social Darwinism in Nazi Family and Inheritance Law." Washingtons latest book is a 2-volume collection of essays and Socratic dialogues "The Progressive Revolution" (University Press of America, 2013). Visit his popular law/political blog, "EllisWashingtonReport.com, an essential repository dedicated to educating the next generation of young conservative intellectuals
Justice Clarence Thomas ? my friend
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