Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison has caused a stir after he compared Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to an infamous house slave in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 film Django Unchained.
Ellison made the racially charged remarks in an interview with the Michigan Chronicle when he was asked to weigh in on the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action policies at top U.S. universities.
Thomas supported the June 6-3 majority ruling to ban racial considerations in the university’s admissions process.
He argued in his opinion that individuals are the “sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and achievements,” and rejected the argument that minorities needed special policies to increase their chances of success.
Ellison, a former congressman, said Thomas, a conservative, reminded him of Samuel L. Jackson’s “Uncle Tom” character Stephen from the critically acclaimed film, who remains loyal to his owner despite his horrific treatment of fellow slaves.
“Anyone who’s seen the movie Django, just look at Stephen and you’ll see Clarence Thomas,” he claimed in the bizarre diatribe.
“Clarence Thomas has decided that his best personal interest is to side with the powerful and the special interests, no matter who they are going to hurt. He’s like, I take care of myself, and I don’t care about you, but I’m on the Supreme Court, so it’s my job to take care of you.” So he shrugs off his responsibility. He gave up on it long ago. When he came into office, he was like this. He’s like this now, maybe he’s worse now.
“Clarence Thomas is illegitimate and has no basis in the job he’s in,” Ellis said. “It’s a lesson for us as African Americans. What’s the lesson? We all thought, well, he’s a black guy who grew up in the deep south. He knows what racism and segregation is, he knows what affirmative action is. He’ll come by one day.’
The 59-year-old suggested that the judiciary only cares for itself and should be impeached.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on Thomas, who grew up in poverty in rural Georgia, by leftists who were angry at his decisions on everything from abortion to LGBT rights.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has gone on weekly vacations with real estate mogul Harlan Crow, including on an adventure to Indonesia aboard a mega yacht and private jet. He issued a response citing a “personal hospitality” exception to the gift rules
Crow called Thomas a dear friend and got to know him after he joined the Supreme Court. Crow is a real estate mogul from Dallas.
The 75-year-old has also faced questions about his close ties to real estate billionaire Harlan Crow and why he hasn’t gone public with his longtime friend’s hospitality.
He had boarded the billionaire’s superyacht to Indonesia, New Zealand and Greece and used his private jet for free.
Thomas also vacationed at Harlan Crow’s country lodge in New York’s Adirondack Park.
The retreat offers boating and fishing opportunities and features exotic furnishings
Billionaire Harlan Crow helped pay tuition for a relative of Clarence Thomas. This included help for the $6,000 a month Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia
Crow also paid the expensive private tuition of a grandnephew of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, which the judge did not explain.
A July 2009 bank statement showed that Crow’s company paid a $6,000 monthly bill for a boarding school where Mark Martin lived.
Thomas had legal custody of the teen at the time.
In April, he released a rare statement noting that he and his wife had been friends with Crow for over twenty-five years.
“As friends do, in the more than a quarter of a century we’ve known them, we’ve taken them on a number of family outings,” Thomas wrote.
He said he followed the advice of others in deciding what required disclosure under official guidelines and that Crow himself had no cases in court.
The real estate mogul has made more than $10 million in donations to Republican political groups.
He also donated half a million dollars to a conservative lobby group founded by Ginni Thomas.
The woman justice has issued her own criticism for supporting Donald Trump’s bid to reverse his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
Supreme Court guidelines have since tightened, and now judges are required to declare gifts and free property stays.
But there’s nothing in the past that would have prevented a member of the nation’s highest court from unveiling lavish travel gifts.
The Ethics and Government Act of 1978 requires judges to file an annual disclosure form when required to disclose gifts, but makes exceptions for “personal hospitality.”
A judiciary policy guide references the exception, but the language states that it does not apply to travel that replaces commercial transportation — which appears to include luxury jet or yacht travel.
“The exemption for reporting personal hospitality gifts applies only to food, lodging or entertainment and is intended to cover such gifts of a personal, non-business nature,” the guide said.
“Therefore, the reporting exemption does not include gifts other than food, lodging or entertainment, such as transportation in lieu of commercial transportation,” it says.