Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says in an upcoming documentary that there is a “different sets of rules” for criticizing him because he is a black conservative.
“There’s different sets of rules for different people,” Thomas said in “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words,” which was viewed by Time.
{mosads} “If you criticize a black person who’s more liberal, you’re a racist. Whereas you can do whatever to me, or to now [Housing and Urban Development Secretary] Ben Carson, and that’s fine, because you’re not really black because you’re not doing what we expect black people to do,” he added.
According to Time, Thomas also addressed allegations by Anita Hill, who claimed during Thomas’s confirmation hearing that the then-nominee had sexually harassed her in the workplace.
Thomas said that “all heck broke loose” when the Hill’s accusation became public.
He also said he felt “deflated” when questioned by the FBI and “literally under siege,” describing the media coverage.
The justice denied the allegations both at the time and in the documentary.
Thomas also said he realized during the confirmation hearing that the type of person who held him back most in his life was not the “bigot, Klansman, and rural sheriff” as he had anticipated, but rather the “modern-day liberal.”
Time reported that the documentary was made by Manifold Productions, which is headed by conservative filmmaker Michael Pack, who has worked with former White House aide Stephen Bannon. The magazine noted that the film is sympathetic to the Supreme Court justice.
It will be released in 2020 and air on PBS in May.
Hill’s sexual harassment allegations have taken on renewed significance in the wake of the “Me Too” movement and sexual misconduct allegations that arose during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process. Both Thomas and Kavanaugh have denied the allegations against them.
Hill said this week that Kavanaugh’s confirmation, during which professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, filled her with “profound sadness and disappointment.”
“The perception that so many had from that was that we hadn’t made any advances in 28 years. And I think that is not the case,” she said. “And I think we all know that, but then when we had the opportunity to display it, it didn’t happen.”