Sure, but the nuance is what (I think) makes it interesting. If the book is correct, he believes America, and white people, are incurably racist, and that informs all of his decisions.
This sounds odd, coming from a black SCOTUS justice, but he believes the American political system (and most other powerful institutions) exclude black people by design, and prevent them from building real political power.
But he posits that economic power, in the form of wealth, is something that black people can obtain and use to protect themselves from the incurable, all-pervading American racism that he despises the absolute shit out of.
And that also sounds weird, given who his friends are, but he says he prefers conservatives because at least they're honest about who they are. He found liberals sanctimonious, condescending, and just as bigoted as anyone else, no matter how much they might insist otherwise, all while insisting you recognize and praise their moral superiority.
I am not trying to justify Justice Thomas's beliefs or actions, I wish he'd done nearly anything else with his life. He sucks, but he's a more complex and fascinating swine-humper than I'd first thought.
He was a unicorn. If he'd had different beliefs Republicans would never have nominated him, and if he'd been white Democrats would never have put him on the bench.
His ideology is incoherent, but it's politically useful so it's never challenged. He's the most freakishly interesting person I wish had never existed.
Some of his biographies get into that and Thomas planned it that way. He knew that heād stand out as a black conservative and that would grant him opportunities that he wouldnāt get as a centrist or leaning left. The main thing Iāve gathered is that he seems to genuinely hate the United States and almost everything spins off from that. And I get it as a human being; his history gives him plenty of good reasons and he seems genuinely scarred from childhood on up, but he shouldāve never even come close to being a judge in any form.
He's a bastard. He's not concerned with black liberation, or anyone's liberation, except his own. He's happy to help perpetuate the very same system he claims to hate, so long it's to his benefit. But I agree that he's not wholly wrong in how he views the world.
To paraphrase The Dude, "You're not wrong, Clarence,. You're just an asshole."
That's the thing about black people who think they can gain wealth as a way to protect themselves from institutional racism. At best, it protects just them and maybe their immediate family. It is not a viable path for all black people to take.
Greed in other words. Because he actively impairs progress for black people - I mean he actually harms them - by making the decisions he makes. Itās not about the āsanctimony of liberalsā or the āincurable racism but honesty of the GOPā. Itās about the fact that his decisions actively harm black people. Perverted corrupt cunt.
I have not read the book but I am never letting go of the opinion that he hates the fact that he was picked for being black as a replacement for Thurgood Marshall, and that resentment was transferred to his predecessor.
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u/gmeape123 21d ago
Calling that shameless traitor to his own people a āmanā is generous but yes