I would like to believe that if Clarence Thomas came under attack

by people who were employing racist stereotyping, terms with racist connotations, and/or anything that smacked of a double standard associated with race, that Democrats of all stripes would be willing and able to deplore that type of treatment, and speak out against it, regardless of our strong negative feelings about the positions that Clarence Thomas takes on some issues that are important to us. Do any of us truly believe that American society is so rid of racism that even a black man who undeniably does represent the entrenched status quo is protected against all instances of separate and unequal treatment based on the color of his skin alone?

Who got the right to vote first in America? Black male slaves or any women?

No, I wouldn't.

My inner Ghandi vs my inner Bakunin. Maybe my inner Ghandi would win the debate too late, lol.

more than 50 years before.

Blacks got vote following civil war.
Women got vote 1920.

Reality was much different.

But given the depth of extreme racial prejudice that always existed in this nation (and what can be more extreme than slavery) that makes it all the more remarkable that our legal system was able to even theoretically give the vote to black men 50 years sooner than white (and by extension all races) women won that right. That has to tell you something.

He seems like an ok guy. Racism is widespread in America. When the opportunity comes to engage in it with impunity, or sit by and watch it happen without comment, most Americans are game.

They were considered 3/5 of a person, and yet they got the vote.

What does that say about what women were considered? Pretty mind-blowing, isn't it?

But there's so much real stuff to attack him with...

and for those who feel there is much real stuff to attack a woman candidate on, that too is fair game.

That is no longer the case with racism, thus it's not acceptable in polite society to express it. Sexism is still fine because the status quo demands that males and females assume their assigned roles. These stereotypes are considered innate, just as Blacks were widely considered "naturally" inferior 100 years ago. It does go to show deeply entrenched sexism that Black males got the vote before any women did. Nothing will change until people stop believing that sexism is "natural" and stop romanticizing it. That's not likely to happen anytime soon.

And from the looks of things around even leftists boards this election season, I have to agree with you on your bottom line.

Thomas doesn't care about civil rights of anyone.

Thomas only cares about what others call him. If blacks are called n* he could care less because it isn't him.

shame me.

I hope they don't represent honest beliefs- but are the rantings of people who speak fast and foolishly.



If not, then i hope this country folds fast-

Prospects are rarely as positive as we hope or as negative as they look.

is that it requires some kind of proof that there is indeed a double standard. If Thomas was just using his race as an excuse to beat back honest criticism, which would probably be the case, then I wouldn't defend him.

I was NOT talking about throwing a race card back in his face if he tried to play one opportunistically. I was talking about a theoretic scenario where people who do not like him for one or more valid or invalid reasons decide that they can attack him by tapping into America's racism to wound Thomas politically.