My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas
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Book Reviews of My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir
Book Review: A Classic American Success Story
Summary: 5 Stars
'My Grandfather's Son' is a superb autobiography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
I almost never read biographies of contemporary world figures. After hearing part of an interview with Justice Thomas, I decided that I would make an exception in this case. I'm glad that I did.
As with countless other Americans, I have long admired Justice Thomas for the dignity with which he conducted himself during the shameful Senate 'confirmation hearings' (or as then Judge Thomas called it at the time, a 'high tech lynching').
Even though that sham was a significant historical event, it is only covered in a small portion of this volume. Although it was interesting to read about what was going on at that time from his perspective, the rest of the book is even more compelling.
To say that Justice Thomas had a rough childhood would be a huge understatement. Born in deep poverty in the segregated South, he was also abandoned by his father, and later by his mother when he and his brother were given to his grandparents. The move to his grandparent's home turned out to be a huge (and very beneficial) move for Thomas.
He developed his values and work ethic under his grandfather's tutelage. He rejected those during his college years when he was radicalized. Fortunately, his grandparents' teachings came back to him in later years.
The justice is very open about his problems also. He had significant bouts with alcohol abuse, financial woes, and other issues. There is no attempt to hide those here. He also found himself walking away from the faith of his youth, only to go back to it in later years.
In this book, Justice Thomas also discusses racial preferences and the effects that they have had on his life. As those who follow the Supreme Court know, he is not a big fan of affirmative action. In these pages, the readers will learn about the development of his views in that area. Needless to say, that is a very interesting part of the story.
Not only is this a very readable book, it is a classic American success story. I highly recommend it.
Book Review: Thomas's grandfather's grade is an A+++, Anita Hill's is an F
Summary: 5 Stars
Clarence Thomas wrote an amazing testimony of how his grandfather saved Clarence and his brother from living lives limited by ignorance, fear, poverty, hopelessness, poor work habits, etc. Clarence's grandfather taught the boys to work hard, study hard, and do their best in whatever they did. What a wonderful "only in America" success story!
My only criticism of the book is that the section on Anita Hill did not include enough information about all the people who worked for many years with Mr. Thomas without seeing him doing anything that could be called sexual harrassment.
Because Anita Hill followed Mr. Thomas from job to job and remained friends with him for 10 years after he supposedly sexually harassed her, it is difficult to believe her charges of sexual harassment.
The following information can be found at: http://www.cnsnews.com/Politics/Archive/200710/POL20071024b.html
This information helped me conclude that the charges made by Anita Hill were false.
Although Hill "stands by her testimony," that testimony has been called into question by other female employees who worked with her and with Thomas at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
J.C. Alvarez, a Chicago businesswoman, who worked as a special assistant to Thomas at the EEOC for FOUR YEARS, testified on his behalf. She told senators that Hill had falsely presented herself as a "meek, innocent, shy Baptist girl."
"I don't know who she was trying to kid," Alvarez said. "Because the Anita Hill that I knew and worked with was nothing like that. She was a very hard, tough woman. She was opinionated. She was arrogant. She was a relentless debater."
Other witnesses who vouched for Thomas also described their work experience in terms that sharply contrasted with Hill's account of events.
Nancy Fitch, who was a special assistant historian to Thomas for SEVEN YEARS at the EEOC, described her former employer as a person of "great integrity" who was "morally upstanding" and an "exemplary boss."
Book Review: From Pinpoint to High Point
Summary: 5 Stars
From the crushing poverty of his upbringing in the Jim Crow South, to the nightmarish process of his nomination to the Supreme Court, Justice Thomas narrates his life story in a refreshingly candid delivery. The book is imbued with readability, and Justice Thomas does have a compelling story to tell. This will sound cliché, but I simply couldn't put the book down. Every night I kept reading well into the wee hours of the morning, seemingly unable to find a stopping place in which to insert my bookmark.
In the last three chapters of the book, Justice Thomas talks in bitter terms about the viciousness he endured in the hands of liberals during the process of his nomination to the Supreme Court. I watched the whole saga on C-Span fresh out of graduate school, and I somewhat disagree with Justice Thomas about what was really transpiring during those days. He saw himself as Tom Robinson, the character in "To Kill a Mockingbird", and that he was being high-tech lynched by a racist mob of white senators incensed by an "uppity black man who deigned to think for himself". As a black man myself, I hope that Justice Thomas has disabused himself of that notion. What was really going on was that Judge Thomas had then joined, perhaps unwittingly, the raging war of ideologies between neo-cons and liberals. Willingly or not, he was by virtue of his own publicly declared views a foot soldier in the conservative movement. The liberals weren't deceived by the idea that his nomination was on account of his legal bona fides. Reagan, and then Bush were packing the court with justices far right of center, and liberals were hell bent on stopping the trend. They had confirmed his nomination to the court of appeals without brouhaha, but the finality of supreme court opinions made the stakes much higher. Preserving Roe vs Wade, it seemed to me, was a far more pressing issue to these people than taking a black man to the "gallows" for speaking his mind. Be it as it may, this is really an excellent read. I recommend My Grandfather's Son without a trace of reservation.
Book Review: A powerful and inspiring story
Summary: 5 Stars
Clarence Thomas is someone that I have admired since I first became aware of him in the early 1990s. As soon as this autobiography appeared, I knew I had to read it. Now that I have done so, I think it needs to be read by anyone and everyone. It offers an inspirational road map to achievement, and devastates the notion that Blacks may advance only with a hand-up from the Democrat party.
As should be obvious from the title, My Grandfather's Son is a paean to Thomas's grandfather, Myers Anderson. "Daddy" as Thomas called him, was one of those honest, religious, tough as boot-leather men who used to proliferate in America. He taught Thomas the value of work--hard work--faith, an education, honesty, and self-respect. In the past, such men helped shape and mold future Supreme Court justices. Today, they'd probably be hauled before child protective services.
Equally riveting is Thomas's description of his bruising battle to a seat on the Supreme Court. Thomas is effusive in his praise of those who provided moral, political, and spiritual support for him during this protracted fight, John Danforth in particular. He also pulls no punches when it comes to identifying the frauds and slanderers who attempted to destroy him. Joe Biden, Howard Metzenbaum, and (not surprisingly) Anita Hill end up appearing positively villainous along with the entire spectrum of pressure groups on the political left.
By the end of My Grandfather's Son, it becomes very obvious that the political left did more to destroy this talented Black man than the KKK ever could have. It leaves one wondering how many others the left has beaten down and demoralized to the point that they just gave up. As Thomas's mother, Leola, is quoted as saying in the aftermath of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings: "I ain't never votin' fo' another Democrat as long as I can draw breath. I'd vote for a dog first." If more Blacks came to that realization, it would be to the benefit of the entire country.
Book Review: Self reliance
Summary: 5 Stars
Self-reliance is one of the themes of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' book, "My grandfather's son." Born into abject poverty, he was able to succeed because of hard work and, partly, because of the remembrance of his grandfather's many platitudes about self help, words that bore a swift kick in the pants to him.
At the age of 7, Thomas, along with his younger brother, went to live with their grandfather Myers Anderson, who ran a fuel oil business and delivered ice. Helping with the deliveries, at his grandfather's side, contributed to Thomas' self-reliant nature. "Daddy," as Thomas calls Myers, was too proud to work for another soul.
Thomas' early life is chronicled in down-to-earth fashion, transporting the reader as his companion through a journey marred, at times, by depression, poverty, alcohol and racism. The rather soulful telling culminates in a description of the Senate confirmation hearings, which Thomas calls a "high-tech lynching."
Justice Thomas treats Anita Hill rather kindly, following biblical principle. Her specific charges are too bizarre, though, not to be taken somewhat seriously, and, in all fairness to her, leaves me still wondering as to who was telling the truth. A self-pitying Thomas does not convincingly lay Hill's claims to rest, if that is even possible. Not being a serial harasser is his best defense. Certainly, both Thomas and Hill were innocent victims of white racism at the pillorying.
"Affirmative action" was treated pejoratively in the book, negating, for instance, what should have been a tremendous feeling of pride at having a law degree from Yale. Justice Thomas is his own man and proud of his black heritage. I sincerely admire him and recommend reading his book.
Because the Anita Hill fiasco was inclusive - a he said/she said -- this book could have been an American Classic, as much so, as one of Thomas' favorite books, "The Fountainhead."