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Established in 1865

I write to explore Black personhood, the life we have built in the shadow of full citizenship. Follow me on Twitter @Established1865.

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In Overturning Roe v. Wade, Clarence Thomas Proves Himself Something Much Worse than a Black Conservative

6 min readJul 1, 2022

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An image of a courthouse. Source: Unsplash.

The only passage I remember from my forced reading of Clarence Thomas’ memoir was how he decided to quit drinking.

Thomas wrote that he was in a tub nursing a hangover when he decided he did not want to feel that way again. With his body submerged in water, he drank the last of the beer and said he hadn’t touched a spirit since.

My father, a recovering alcoholic and Republican, made me read that memoir because of Thomas’ success in getting onto the Supreme Court. I remember the AA meetings that my father attended to come to terms with his addiction. He took my brother and I. AA forms a community to support building a new life without a controlling substance. Thomas didn’t need any of that. He silently decided and followed through.

Thomas’s role on the Court, fully actualized with the conservative decision to eliminate a natural right of women secured for generations by overturning Roe v. Wade, was to articulate the silent glee of the right. In the opinions from the conservative side, the tones range from judicious and measured to non-sensical. Thomas’ cohort are not moral…

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Established in 1865
Established in 1865

Published in Established in 1865

I write to explore Black personhood, the life we have built in the shadow of full citizenship. Follow me on Twitter @Established1865.

Hal H. Harris
Hal H. Harris

Written by Hal H. Harris

Black on Both Sides. Medium Writers Challenge Winner. The founder of Established in 1865. I Tweet @Established1865. E-mail is hal.harris@est1865.com.