[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1426-E1427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ``SWING LOW''

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 31, 1996

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, the following commentary written by Liz Brown 
recently appeared in the St. Louis American. It expresses some timely 
thoughts on the subject of affirmative action and Clarence Thomas' 
mishandling of the issue. I commend Ms. Brown's commentary to our 
colleagues as evidence of the black community's unwavering support for 
affirmative action and their irritation with Thomas' position on the 
issue.

                               Swing Low

       It's true confession time. I haven't been to church in a 
     while--a good while. I've been busy. But God uses a number of 
     different methods to herd his flock back into the fold. 
     Sometimes it's a gentle nudge, sometimes it's a firm shove 
     and sometimes it's a solid kick in the behind.
       Well, I got a kick this week and I am going tomorrow as 
     soon as the doors open up. Supreme Court Justice Clarence 
     Thomas, the Accidental Jurist, has announced that God told 
     him to vote against Affirmative action. That's right, Jesus 
     came down from the mountain top and whispered into his ear, 
     ``Clarence, if you type one word in your word processor in 
     one opinion against whites, you are breaking God's Law''. 
     This God that

[[Page E1427]]

     reigns over the church of Clarence Thomas, told the jurist, 
     turn your back to the dark side, ``sin no more'' and make 
     certain that the interest of white men are protected.
       Well, I must admit Clarence's God has been doing a hell of 
     a job. White males are 33% of the total American population. 
     Yet they make up 80% of the US House of Representatives 
     members, 92% of Forbes 400 richest people, 97% of school 
     superintendents, 99.9% of professional athletic team owners 
     and 100% of all US presidents.
       Yes indeed, the God that reigns over this church certainly 
     looks out for the interest of his followers. And what a savvy 
     being this God, to get a person with dark pigmentation and 
     supreme power to preach the gospel according to the powerless 
     white male. Who would ever question such a messenger? In 
     choosing the Accidental Jurist, this God has certainly 
     selected a worthy disciple. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and 
     Clarence.
       In June of last year Clarance Thomas voted with the 
     majority on the Supreme Court to end affirmative action 
     programs involving school desegregation and voting rights in 
     three separate cases. Since those decisions, Thomas appeared 
     publicly to explain his vote. Thomas has stated, policies 
     like affirmative action, which address the issues of equal 
     access, are racist.
       If affirmative action policies are racist where is the 
     proof? The class of people who are the victims of a racist 
     affirmative action program according to Thomas are white 
     males. And yet, white males, outnumber every other group 
     combined in nearly every job category even though they make 
     up only 33% of the population.
       It seems that the good justice is saying we need to 
     eliminate affirmative action and return to the days when the 
     only policy in effect was ``the good old boy policy.'' 
     Thomas appears to believe that we can and should trust 
     those who benefit from the good old boy affirmative action 
     program to do right by all of us. In Justice Thomas' 
     world, white men will make certain everyone will benefit.
       This type of thinking on the part of Justice Thomas reminds 
     me of stories of slaves and citizens who truly believe ``if I 
     work really, really hard, someday those who benefit by my 
     efforts will do right by me.'' The trickle down theory.
       The trickle down theory didn't end slavery--it took a war 
     and 10's of thousands of dead bodies to do that. The trickle 
     down theory didn't end lawful segregation--it took riots, 
     marching and murder to do that. The trickle down theory did 
     not make slaves into citizens or give women the right to 
     vote--it took a constitutional amendment to do that. And the 
     trickle down theory will not eliminate the need for 
     affirmative action no matter how much Clarence Thomas 
     believes his mean spirited god is telling him that.
       At a time when the discussion about affirmative action is 
     already muddied by some who believe that white males as a 
     whole are truly suffering in the implementation of the 
     policy, at a time when the debate is confused and inflamed by 
     some with the use of the phrase ``preferential treatment'', 
     it is insane to add to the discord the opinion of a man who 
     imagines he hears voices from God about what he should type 
     on his word processor.

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