The Corner

Law & the Courts

Georgia Democrat Would Take a Confederate Monument over a Clarence Thomas Statue

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, April 10, 2017. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Some things speak for themselves. In an article in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution about a proposed statue of Supreme Court justice (and Georgia native) Clarence Thomas on state capitol grounds, Georgia state representative Donna McLeod, a Democrat, is quoted in opposition. Her rationale is worth reproducing here:

“I’d rather them keep a Confederate monument than a statue of Clarence Thomas,” said Democratic state Rep. Donna McLeod. “That’s how much I don’t like the idea.”

We’ve known for decades that liberals hate Clarence Thomas. Despite his incredible life story, and his tremendous stature and influence on the Court, the Left has had it in for Thomas from the start of his time in public life. The logic of contemporary identity politics dictates that he is supposed to have a different set of views from the originalism he has so skillfully expounded on the Supreme Court. Because he does not, he is not merely an ideological opponent. Indeed, he is, to McLeod, not even morally indistinguishable from Confederates. He is worse.

Thomas’s long tenure on the Court has provided many glimpses of his brilliance, but also of the depth of the Left’s distaste for him. We have seen many lows, but McLeod’s is a new one.  

Jack Butler is submissions editor at National Review Online, media fellow for the Institute for Human Ecology, and a 2022–2023 Robert Novak Journalism Fellow at the Fund for American Studies.  
Exit mobile version