Court Nominee Gives Credit To Civil Rights Movement
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Judge Clarence Thomas, who early in his career began to espouse hard work and individual initiative as the road to successfor black Americans, today credited the civil rights movement with helping him rise out of poverty to become a nominee for the Supreme Court. “I’ve been extremely fortunate,” Judge Thomas said during a visit to Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “I, of course, have benefited greatly from the the civil rights movement, from the Justice whom I’m nominated to succeed,” Judge Thomas said, referring to the retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black member of the Supreme Court. Judge Thomas’s remarks in Mr. Thurmond’s office were not in response to reporters’ specific questions and were clearly intended to rebut critics, including some by members of civil rights organizations, who say he should not be confirmed because of his vociferous opposition to affirmative action and racial quotas in hiring. Judge Thomas, a 43-year-old conservative who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, specifically cited the Urban League and the National Assocation for the Advancement of Colored People for their help. He also singled out Senator John C. Danforth, a Missouri Republican for whom he had worked as an assistant state attorney general and later as a legislative aide and who is his champion in the Senate. After President Bush’s nomination of Judge Thomas last week, John E. Jacob, president of the National Urban League, said: “Obviously, Judge Thomas is no Justice Marshall. But if he were, this Administration would not have appointed him.” The N.A.A.C.P., meeting this week in Houston, continued to be deeply divided over whether to endorse the nomination. In a speech to the convention today, Representative Craig Washington, a Texas Democrat who is black, drew cheers and applause from many after he asserted, “In my opinion, Clarence Thomas is not fit to shine the shoes of Thurgood Marshall.” The board of directors of the N.A.A.C.P. voted tonight to withhold any action on Judge Thomas’s nomination until he could be interviewed and his record as a public official studied in detail, Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, the executive director of the association, said. More : query.nytimes.com |