Business…here’s Monday’s Jump.
Watched Clarence Thomas’ interview on “60 Minutes” last night.  I found it to be pretty interesting.  It’s hard to tell how sincere he was being, but no one has less reason to be insincere than a Supreme Court justice.  Foe Life!
It was interesting to hear him say how frustrated he is by racism, how he was a radical back in the day, and all that fun stuff.  Of course, it’s interesting since those facts would seem to indicate a certain level of nationalism.  Clarence Thomas, however, has no nationalist sensibilities.  Not a single one.
He doesn’t see himself as a black man.  That one’s interesting.  Really, that’s how things should be.  We should be able to see ourselves as people, without chromatic modifiers preceding that.  But the truth is, we can’t.  We are black.  If we weren’t made lack by the invention of an absurd social construct, we wouldn’t have the problems we have not just trying to make it from one day to the next.  So Clarence, see yourself as you’d like, but you better be honest about this.  You’re black.  You have your job because you’re black (c’mon Clarence, there have been two black justices on the court, and one replaced the other, and there probably won’t be another until your time on the bench is up).  That’s what it is.
The lack of nationalism struck me, though, because I found it to be so cold and dispassionate.  It didn’t sound like Clarence was cold and dispassionate.  He seemed to be pretty fiery inside.  But when it comes to black people, he’s totally disinterested.  He hates racism, but he doesn’t give a damn about its fellow victims.  He could care less.  He thinks, somehow, that he has transcended race.
But if it were that easy, a lot more of us would have done it.  That time hasn’t come for you, Clarence.  It didn’t come when you latched on with John Danforth.  It didn’t come when you crippled the EEOC.  It didn’t come when you got the call from Bush the Elder.  You are one of us.
Yet, you have no concern for us.  You hate racism, but choose not to do anything about it.  You claim the Constitution should dictate the law, but that ignores that the Constitution’s practical applications, using that logic, do not fulfill its spirit.
So forgive me if I reject the notion that Clarence Thomas is a man of principle.  He’s not.  He found a way to use racism to his advantage and creative a nice life for himself.  That’s the game, I suppose.  I loathe it, but we all survive in different ways.
But don’t sit in that chair and tell me hwo much you hate racism and like to help the disadvantaged while doing little to nothing on their behalf.
But I’ll say this–I no longer think Clarence Thomas hates black people.  He just doesn’t give a damn about us.
And that’s scarier than what I thought before.