Ten years ago, I had the honor to testify for Clarence Thomas. Many have forgotten how explosive the Clarence Thomas hearings became when Anita Hill suddenly appeared. Liberals were outraged when Anita accused Clarence of “talking dirty” to her. Eight years later, these same liberals saw nothing wrong with Bill Clinton committing perjury, adultery and sexual perversion.
The difference was that the Clarence Thomas hearings were not about sex or sexual harassment. Bob Packwood, the liberal Republican senator who sexually abused his female employees for decades, proved that liberals will ignore sexual abuse and harassment if it suits their purpose.
No, the Clarence Thomas hearings were about liberal racism. Liberals and Democrats were worried that Clarence would loosen their lock on black voters. The last thing they wanted was a role model who also was a conservative, black Republican.
The hearings were also about abortion. Liberals were afraid that Clarence would vote to repeal Roe vs. Wade. Anita Hill was just a convenient tool willing to do their bidding for money and fame.
I first met Clarence Thomas when he entered Yale Law School in 1971. Clarence and I were acquaintances, not friends. We respected each other and both had a strong commitment to being positive examples of what decent, God-fearing black men could achieve.
Anita Hill and I both came to Washington, D.C., in 1981. She had just graduated from Yale Law School and I had just earned my MBA from Harvard Business School. Washington, D.C., attracts all types, including men and women like Anita who are long on ambition and short on ability.
Ten years later, I’m still amazed that the press ignored Anita’s regular telephone calls to Clarence after she left Washington, D.C. They never demanded that she explain why she invited Clarence to be the keynote speaker at a sexual harassment conference at Oral Roberts University after she left Washington.
Anita claimed to be a poor law professor from Oklahoma, but the press never asked who paid for her public relations firms. They never asked who paid for flying her entire family to Washington, D.C., from Oklahoma. They never asked where did her legions of lawyers come from and who paid their expenses. They accepted her lie that she, a federally protected civil servant, would lose her job if she hadn’t followed Clarence to Equal Employment Opportunity Commision.
The fact is that the truth didn’t matter when Clarence Thomas was the liberal’s target. Just as the truth didn’t matter when Bill Clinton was their saint. Today, one decade after the Thomas hearings, only C-SPAN 3 has the sense of decency to replay the hearings tapes for a new generation to see.
The good news is that in spite of the liberal-financed Anita Hill kamikaze attack, Clarence was confirmed. It is not an understatement to say that the world would be a very different place if they had defeated his nomination. The bad news is that in Washington, D.C., “no good deed goes unpunished.”
When I testified for Clarence in 1991, I had spent eight years building an international management consulting firm that helped poor countries move from socialism to capitalism. My only client in 1991 was the United States Agency for International Development. Unlike some, I had not registered as a “minority” business. I only wanted clients who did business with me because of the quality of my work, not the color of my skin.
Thirteen months after the hearings, Bill Clinton was elected president. Six months after Bill took office, Anita Hill supporters inside his administration destroyed my firm and corrupt foreign officials tried to kill me. A few years later, my marriage failed.
Some ask if I would testify for Clarence again, given what happened. Absolutely. Clarence is a decent, God-fearing man. He has been a great Justice. He has made me proud.
Testifying for Clarence was an honor. It was also my duty. Our country is great because so many of us stand up for what is right despite the potential cost. Our country is blessed because most of us understand that you do the right thing because it is right. Period, end of sentence.
Today, I am a better, stronger and more centered person because of what I went through. I have remarried and am very happy. And every time I hear the words, “the U.S. Supreme Court decided today,” I smile. Because my small sacrifice helped make it possible for a very good man to spend the last 10 years protecting America from her enemies.
The apocalypse of Hurricane Helene
Patrice Lewis