Clarence Thomas' Affirmative Action Opinion Got My Work Wrong | HuffPost HuffPost Personal

Clarence Thomas - his concurring opinion

renouncing affirmative action cited Alison Stewart's book

about Dunbar - the first Black public school in the U.S.

Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., was the first Black public high school.  As the Bronx Science and Stuyvesant high schools of  the District of Columbia it produced many of the leaders of Black America, including Charles Hamilton Houston who argued Brown v. Board of Education  Stewart observes that "In his argument upholding the myth of pure meritocracy, Thomas cites some of the success stories from “First Class,” including Robert Weaver, the first Black member of a presidential Cabinet; Benjamin O. Davis, the first Black general in the U.S. Army; and William Hastie, the first Black federal judge. He argued intellect is enough for Black students to succeed, and Dunbar proved that.,"

It is an astonishing argument - aimed at the heart of Brown v. Board - that racial isolation does not impede the drive for excellence. The success of some against the odds does not establish that on the broad scale racial segregation did not do great harm.  Thomas himself  was recruited to Holy Cross College by Fr. John Brooks, a Jesuit who, determined to break the school's all white history, traveled the country and offered admission and support to twenty promising Black high school students like Thomas, the now powerhouse lawyer Ted Wells, and former NYC Deputy Mayor Stanley Grayson.  That story is told in Diane Brady's Fraternity.  But Thomas rather than celebrate now angrily abjures such efforts as granting unlawful preferences.

- GWC

Clarence Thomas' Affirmative Action Opinion Got My Work Wrong | HuffPost HuffPost Personal

By Alison Stewart is host of “All Of It with Alison Stewart,” WNYC’s daily live afternoon program and is the author of “First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School.”

All I can do is use more words to set the record straight. Going forward, I would ask Thomas that when it comes to supporting his thoughts on affirmative action, “Please,” as the kids say, “keep my name and Dunbar’s out of your mouth.”