Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

9 Pages 2215 Words

t in private schools by white nuns, and under the supervision of Anderson, Justice Thomas sees life and fairness different than any other black. Discipline and hard work were the most important things at home. Seeing education as another important factor in a black child’s life to fight discrimination, Thomas was enrolled in St. Benedict's, a private Catholic school for blacks, by his granddad. In this time, Clarence had both, positive and negative reactions about him. Being teased by other black children, because of his big feet, and discriminated by whites, the nuns in school raised his self-esteem. But he also developed his own way to confront criticism: silent determination instead of angry protest. His grandfather Anderson took Clarence Thomas to different NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) meetings. There he quickly learned more about the discrimination of the black and “those things just tore him to pieces.” (www.accessatlanta.com). But he soon showed another viewpoint of the racial problems than other blacks, way more conservative. Entering a school as the only black to become a priest, Thomas lost his faith in religion, after he heard a racial and religious discriminating comment about Martin Luther King Jr. on the day of his assassination. Going on to Yale Law school, Clarence chose not the ‘typical’ black direction. His focus was on business and tax law, rather than on civil rights. After graduation he was admitted to Missouri Bar, became assistant attorney general in Missouri. Later on he was an attorney with the Monsanto Company, where he found himself getting some of his law practice. After being the legislative assistant to Senator John C. Danforth in Missouri, Clarence Thomas took a job at the Reagan administration, overseeing civil rights at the De...