The Transformative Racial Politics of Justice Thomas: The Grutter v. Bollinger Opinion
![handle is hein.journals/upjcl7 and id is 799 raw text is: THE TRANSFORMATIVE RACIAL POLITICS OF
JUSTICE THOMAS?:
THE GRUTTER V. BOLLINGER OPINION
Tomiko Brown-Nagin*
INTRODUCTION
Justice Clarence Thomas is a flashpoint for liberals and moder-
ates' concern about the ascendancy of conservative thought in law
and politics. Both have denounced Justice Thomas's judicial phi-
losophy and decisions in scathing terms since his appointment to the
Supreme Court in 1991. Justice Thomas has been called a stooge of
the political right and a hypocrite.' African American leaders have
skewered Justice Thomas in particularly personal terms, describing
him as look[ing] black, but think[ing] white2 and as the Whitest
man in America in terms of his political program and repudiation
of civil rights.3 Thomas's jurisprudence in race-related cases is a spe-
cial target of contempt. Proponents of affirmative action are caustic
in their criticisms of Justice Thomas, in light of his opposition to race-
conscious policies. That he apparently was a beneficiary of affirma-
tive action, but now denies others the opportunities that he has en-
joyed, animates claims that Justice Thomas's race jurisprudence
Visiting Associate Professor, University of Virginia School of Law (2004-05) and Associate
Professor of Law and History, Washington University, St. Louis. J.D., Yale University; Ph.D.,
MA., Duke University; B.A., Furman University. Thanks to Lani Guinier, Kim Forde-Mazrui,
Stephen Smith, and Daniel Nagin for comments on prior drafts of this Essay. This Essay builds
on some of the comments that I made at the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional
Law 2004 Symposium, Race Jurisprudence and the Supreme Court: Where Do We Go from Here?
See KEN FOsKETr, JUDGING THOMAS 2, 231-32, 288-89, 297, 314 (2004) (enumerating a
number of criticisms of Justice Thomas, ranging from his failure to help other black people af-
ter he made it to how he obeys Justice Scalia); ANDREW PEYTON THOMAS, CLARENCE THOMAS
350-52, 360 (2001) (describing the aggressive support of the political right and the vehement
opposition of liberals and some moderates to Justice Thomas's nomination to the Supreme
Court).
2 THOMAS, supra note 1, at 351 (quoting Derrick Bell on the television program, Nightline).
3 FOSKErT, supra note 1, at 289 (quoting Derrick Bell and Manning Marable, respectively);
see also id. at 4, 135, 231, 288-89 (likening Justice Thomas to a Judas, Benedict Arnold, and
Brutus to the black community).
4 See FoSKETr, supra note 1, at 289 (describing criticism leveled by supporters of affirmative
action).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/upjcl7&div=30&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Transformative Racial Politics of Justice Thomas: The Grutter v. Bollinger Opinion
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