My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas
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Book Reviews of My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir
Book Review: The life of a truly remarkable man in his own words
Summary: 5 Stars
Needless to say, Clarence Thomas's daring to tell his story in his own words has the left-wing tied in knots. Thomas, who has been ruthlessly assaulted for his refusal to follow the dictates of coventional left-wing thinking about what is "good" for blacks, tells not only the story of his formative years here, but of his personal thoughts during what he so accurately described as the "high-tech lynching" of his confirmation hearings.
Justice Thomas tells us where he came from, Pinpoint, Georgia in the heart of the segregated South and how his upbringing formed the views he holds today. Thomas and his brother were raised by their grandfather, the man they called "Daddy". Daddy was a remarkable man in his own right. With perhaps three months total schooling, Daddy operated several small businesses, believed in total self-reliance, doing good, his religion, his family and his community. The violence of the white community, while never visited upon the Thomas family, was never far away and Thomas became aware of the potential early in life through Daddy's warnings.
Daddy and his wife scrimped to send Thomas to a Catholic school, where Thomas did well, but as children do, became aware of the contradictions in life. Originally feeling a calling to the priesthood, Thomas dropped out of the seminary and became something of a young radical.
As the culture wars of the 60s raged, Thomas describes himself as becoming acutely aware of his blackness. It is surprising to read of his journey through the radicalism of the era when he perceived blacks as the eternal victims of racism to his more enlightened views where he recognized that blacks held the keys to their own future. The future Justice Thomas had, in fact, adopted the philosophy of Daddy, though it took him some time to realize it.
There was nothing in Thomas's career that would have predicted his future appointment to the Supreme Court. In fact, Thomas's life seems a bit like Everyman's journey. Finding a job by happenstance, a marriage that never felt right, drinking too much, not enough money.The portrait Thomas paints of himself is not that of a wunderkind, not even that of a striver, but of a man who is dedicated to performing at the highest level he is capable of, while at the same time being filled with doubts about himself and his beliefs. It is one of the most touching self-descriptions I have read in a long, long time.
Thomas more or less falls into the political life and far more through chance than design becomes head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Here we see the ideological opposition to Thomas hardening. He doesn't believe in the welfare state policies towards blacks advocated by the left-wing and they cannot tolerate that.
Thomas is candid about the racist opposition he faced when first nominated to the D.C. Court of Appeals. It wasn't the old-fashioned racism, but rather the modern kind: no black was permitted to deviate from the thinking proscribed for them by white left-wingers.
The chapters covering his EEOC career, his time on the DCCA bench and the nomination battle for the Supreme Court are, in a single word, riveting. The hypocrisy of Senators Biden, Metzenbaum, Kennedy and others smells to high heaven. The setting up of Anita Hill with her false story of "harassment" and its refutation is told in painful detail.
Thomas does a superb job of describing the left-wing's debasement of the judiciary.
I will engage in an argument of whether Thomas is "qualified" for the Supreme Court or not. Over the years, it is apparent that those nominated for the Supreme Court runs the gamut from those who became fine jurists to those who were nothing more than political hacks and remained so.
The real story of Clarence Thomas is that of a black boy from segregated Georgia who rose to become an Associate Justice of the United States of America. As Justice Thomas himself has said "only in America".
This is a truly worthwhile book and should be given to every young person to show them what the ordinary person can acheive.
Jerry
Book Review: "Right is Right, Even Over a Penny"
Summary: 5 Stars
Justice Thomas's book, "My Grandfather's Son", was to me an enthralling and incredibly introspective story on how one of the most enigmatic public figures in our nation's recent history got to where he is today.
For a long time, Clarence Thomas has been a mystery to me (and I am sure to many others as well). In "My Grandfather's Son" though, Justice Thomas opens the shutters to his life (his words, not mine) and bares his soul. He talks openly about what it was like to be abandoned by his father and raised by his "Daddy" (his maternal grandfather). It was illuminating to read Thomas's feelings about his grandfather as he contemplated and compared his strict almost loathsome upbringing juxtaposed agianst his grandfather's affection for Thomas's own son, Jamal.
Thomas talks about his collegiate radicalism and the anger and rage that fueled his politics. Most impressively though, Thomas dicusses in detail the evolution of his ideology. He states that he had been "sneering at the simplemindedness of his [grandfather's] philosophy of self-reliance, but now it was making sense to [him] again." He also asked, "If I was truly serious about helping other people, I'd have started by helping myself, and the first thing I had to do was chain the beast of rage and resentment that threatened to wreck my acedemic career and my life. Of course I had every reason to be outraged by the experience of blacks in America, but I had no right to confuse their collective sufferings with my own personal experiences."
Maybe that is why I enjoyed reading about Justice Thomas's life ... I realized just how much of an individual he truly is. He talked about reading "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" and how Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism (radical individualism) seared him to his core. He realized how hollow the leftist's "Do-Your-Own-Thing" mantra truly was, labeling it superficial and strictly limited. Thomas himself stated, "Merely because I was black, it seemed, I was supposed to listen to Hugh Maskela instead of Carole King, just as I was expected to be a radical, not a conservative. I no longer cared to play that game ... The black people I knew came from different places and backgrounds - social, economic, even ethnic - yet the color of our skin was somehow supposed to make us identical in spite of our differences. I didn't buy it. Of course we had all experienced racism in one way or another, but that did not mean we had to think alike."
Thomas's consevrativism does not make him an "Uncle Tom". In fact, his conservativism is an informed and thoughtful reaction to the true problems facing the African-American community. As far as I am concerned, the black community ought to revere Justice Thomas as a hero as well as other African-American individualists such as Thomas Sowell, Jay Parker, and even Juan Williams and Bill Cosby.
Some have viewed Justice Thomas's book as a personification of his bitterness. However, I believe it is much more complicated than that. It is clear from the last couple chapters that what Anita Hill did was despicable. But even more contemptible are those who put her up to it, the lefist special interest groups and women's groups. Simply put, the Anita Hill allegation was about abortion rather than sexual harassment. It is clear to me now that Thomas's assessment of Hill is undoubtedly true ... she was/is an ambituous woman marked by immaturity. Thomas states in his book that Ms. Hill touted her Yale Law degree as reason enough to qualify her for a promotion. This is noteworthy because in an October 2, 2007 editorial in the NYT written by Anita Hill she again refutes Thomas's claim that she was a below-average employee by balllyhooing again that she "had gone to Yale Law School" - as if that alone makes someone a qualified employee.
Bravo to Justice Thomas!!! He is an American Treasure. If I am ever in a Wal-mart parking lot late one night and I see a larger custom-built RV in the back corner of the lot, I may just knock on the door and shake his hand and tell him thank you to his face.
Book Review: Riveting and Well Written
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a lot of books with the sole purpose of learning something. I don't read much fiction and while I am described by some as rigid, I do enjoy a good story. I very much appreciate someone who can deliver information in a manner that is both engaging and enlightening. Clarence Thomas does all of that splendidly.
I bought the book in an audio format and I am delighted that Justice Thomas personally read the book for the audio. There is much wisdom in this book, so I will also buy the printed version so that I can go back to some of my favorite passages.
Justice Thomas lived a hard life that he is clearly grateful for. His family situation was less than ideal, but his family turned what most today would use as an excuse for failure into a reason for success.
I was raised by my grandparents for long periods of time as a child, so I feel that I can relate to some of his situation, but my grandparents were more like Santa Claus than Clarence's grandfather. I loved my grandparents, but listening to Thomas made me actually yearn for discipline that I didn't receive. Clarence's grandfather clarified later in life why he was so strict and his reasoning reveals even further the depth of his character - a character that is missing in so many people today.
This is a book that is clearly written by Thomas out of love and respect for his grandparents, with his grandfather (Daddy) dominating the relationship. The love and deep respect that Thomas has for this man is not cloaked or discounted. He makes no bones about once fearing the man who he has come to view as the greatest man he ever knew. I relate well to a relationship that seemed hard at the time but was peeled like an onion as Thomas matured and his life experiences accumulated.
I will read this book many times in the future, despite owning an extensive library that has numerous volumes that I have yet to read and that is constantly expanding. This man is a decent man who clearly doesn't pander to anyone. He wrote this book to memorialize his life and he wrote it from his heart and his perspective.
This book will anger many who read it, as Thomas walks step by step through what can only be described as a reluctant shift to the "conservative camp". I can relate to Thomas being true to his heart and being surprised to discover the company he was keeping. His journey from being an angry black to his current "position" is revealing in that he has always remained true to himself, despite his misgivings and despite who he alienated.
Thomas did wrestle with alcohol and the fact that he admits it makes him all the more human. I found so much of his honesty refreshing, enlightening and encouraging. This is a man who has walked among us and made hard choices that ultimately took him to the highest court of the land. I found his financial challenges insightful, as he struggled with the traditional values of our grandparents of avoiding debt at all costs while achieving the "status" of a Yale law degree. His reflection on his core values has caused me to reflect on my own life. He reminded me that materialism and monetary gain are empty goals that can be extremely seductive, but still void of any intrinsic value.
I also have to comment that it is extremely apparent that many of the negative reviews have been written by people who have not read any of the book, while other negative reviews seem to be cut and paste copies of one person's attack on the book.
I will share with those whose lame attempt is so transparent that when I read your attacks I had to smile. I am certain that Justice Thomas would not waste a moment of his time nor lose a minute of sleep over your attacks.
"Old Man Can't" is dead; play the hand that you were dealt and do your best every day at everything you do.
Bravo Justice Thomas. I am inspired to take the time to read your briefs - a first for me. I also pray that you write more, as I think you have a great deal to offer those who are open to your message.
Book Review: a most human story of growth and character
Summary: 5 Stars
American life has produced some remarkable stories, that could happen in other places; but rarely with the speed and unique characteristics of a nation founded simultaneously on individual hard work, communal sacrifice, and a decentralized religious faith. Supreme Court Associate Justice, Clarence Thomas, is one of these stories, and he has provided a great resource for years to come by telling his story, which is as much about his character development as it is about his public career. In fact, what really makes this book unique is that Justice Thomas uses his career development as a background to how his character developed in the midst of the last half of the 20th century in America, especially as an independent black man in the gradually desegregating nation.
The highlight of this book is Justice Thomas' story of his early years (the first 100 pages or so of this 250+ page book), around Savannah, Georgia. Born into rural poverty, endemic to the Gullah/Geechee people that were in slavery just a few generations before, Thomas as a boy, felt early the disruptions that would come to much of black America in years to come by not having a father and being forced to move into a more urban, welfare type of poverty that strangled men far more than the rural, coastal poverty which he was born to. His life savior was his grandfather, always referred to as "Daddy" by Thomas, who knew the narrow margins in life that Thomas and his brother had to succeed, and undertook a strict and uncompromising approach to raising these two boys.
To some degree, Thomas, who is arguably been one of the most powerful black men in American history, still lives in the shadow of his poor, but proud independent businessman grandfather. Given the special privilege to study and move in circles far beyond his means, due to the kindness of the church and his academic ability, Thomas began a gradual process of moving away emotionally and philosophically as much as physically, from the lessons his grandfather taught him. Thomas became like so many of his generation: angry at the white man, angry at the government for the Vietnam War, angry at the academic establishment, and in many ways, he had all the ingredients to become just one more liberal radical, were it not for the continual imprint of "Daddy" on his life.
His meteoric rise in the Federal government in the Reagan and Bush administrations certainly showed a good intellect and hard worker, willing to put the effort into fighting any phony attempt, from the right and especially the left, in hindering black Americans from rising above. But it was not until Thomas returned to the first principles of his life: family, faith, and hope, that his determined self effort finally meant anything to him.
Justice Thomas has said in interviews that he intends for his memoir to give hope to others. The hope he offers is one of joy in life based on first principles of hard work, self-reliance, responsibility for your own life, faith and family. He has developed no real expectation in hope from the government, other than as a place to give justice. His confirmation to the Supreme Court, remembered for the Anita Hill testimony, remains a he said/ she said event, but what Thomas adds here is his emotional reaction to a liberal establishment that opposed him for what he stood for, more than what he might have done.
This book would be of great value to young minority men, or just young men of any type, those looking for real hope in the American story, and those interested in a personal and discrete telling of a black man rising above political and legal American government in the aftermath of the Civil Rights era.
Book Review: The Thomas Testimony
Summary: 5 Stars
While some may rightfully consider this thorough accounting of Clarence Thomas's life to be inspiring--and it was that--it is also a solemn statement in some ways of the depths to which we have sunk politically. Thomas made the journey through some of the most difficult circumstances that life has to offer, and in this book you will walk hand-in-hand with him. There is no question that the book should be read by as wide an audience as possible. The hope would be that people could first see the toll that bigotry and politics took on a man and his friends & family, but just as strongly there is the hope that we can see the critical value that a strong father figure (in his grandfather) can represent for a struggling boy, then a young man, and then an adult.
Only once did I start to think that things were starting to bog down a little, and that was just over halfway through the book. But when I picked it up again a few hours later and started the next chapter I was right back into an intriguing story that kept me captivated until the end. I have two minor criticisms. First, Thomas recounts his contentious and scurrilous 1991 Senate hearings for his nomination to be a Supreme Court judge almost strictly in terms of racial prejudice. The pompous hypocrites who questioned him did in all likelihood view him stereotypically in a derogatory sense, and they did come against him because he did not fall into the role expected (demanded) of him. A black man simply cannot be politically conservative, and therefore the gloves come off. But this sidesteps one very important part of history: Robert Bork was treated contemptuously as well. Their common denominator was being politically conservative--and that was simply unacceptable. This was political war first; a racial putdown second. That said, one cannot help but acknowledge that Thomas has suffered because of his skin color. I think he handled that battle exceedingly well.
My second criticism is that I think it would have been more appropriate and dignified to have not quoted certain vulgar terms (once) in the final chapter that had been used to disparage him in the hearings. This book will be read a hundred years from now, and those specific words could have been alluded to without finding their way into print. One does not want to see this tremendous story sullied in any way or any negative stigma left to haunt the man who fought a fight that few people could have endured.
Those two items reflect my only reservations. On the positive side it is hard to know where to start. Perhaps I can put it this way: I am one year older than Clarence Thomas, and if I were ever honored to meet the man I would carefully, humbly, and deliberately address him as "Sir". He catalogs his faults as well as his qualities, and the man is nothing short of brilliant. His is a well-checked ego, and as a nation we have in him better than we deserve. Forget race. Forget politics. Read the book to learn what a real man is made of through his hardships and victories. You won't be disappointed.