THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 16, 1996 TAG: 9609130022
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 31 lines
Didn't Clarence Thomas look right at home with Pat Robertson? (MetroNews, Sept. 11). Isn't it interesting that his nomination to the Supreme Court was opposed by the NAACP, the nation's oldest and largest civil-rights group?
Interesting that he is ostracized by black leaders nationally. Interesting that after being protested in majority-black Prince Georges County, Md., for just speaking at a high school earlier this year, he would end up looking so comfortable with a man who so embodies the exclusionist views of the religious right.
How does Clarence Thomas invoke such animosity from the black community, only to be given a ``90-second standing ovation'' by the majority-white students of Regent University?
Well, this is why. Clarence Thomas is not only a hypocrite, but also a disgrace to the black community, his former ``home.'' Thomas was admitted to the Yale law school through a minority enrollment program. He has benefited from affirmative-action policies, only to turn his back on them as well as other programs that would give future generations the same type of opportunities that he received.
So it shouldn't be surprising that he looks right at home with Mr. Robertson. Get comfortable over there Justice Thomas, it's the only home you have left.
NED BROWN
Virginia Beach, Sept. 11, 1996 by CNB