NAACP President Derrick Johnson named Justice Clarence Thomas as “the worst thing” that affirmative action created as he condemned the Supreme Court decision striking down racial preferences in college admissions.
Johnson excoriated Thomas in an MSNBC interview Thursday and called the decision an “unfortunate footnote” in this right-wing Supreme Court’s legacy.
“The worst thing about affirmative action is that it created a Clarence Thomas, who benefited from the program and now is in a position where he’s going to deny many young African American talented individuals an opportunity,” Johnson said.
“Historically, the problem has been that the institutions of higher learning, corporations, companies, and other entities have denied well qualified African Americans and other individuals access in terms of admissions, employment because of their race.”
Thomas grew up in a poor Black community in Georgia and won a spot in Yale’s elite law school. He wrote after graduating that he felt racial preference had “robbed my achievement of its true value.”
Johnson, in a separate statement, declared that “hate-inspired people in power” won’t be allowed to turn back the clock.
“Race plays an undeniable role in shaping the identities of and quality of life for Black Americans,” he said. “In a society still scarred by the wounds of racial disparities, the Supreme Court has displayed a willful ignorance of our reality.”