Anita Hill: The Clarence Thomas Hearings

NOW was one of the first organizations to oppose the confirmation of Clarence Thomas based on his record of opposition to women's rights and his reliance on antiquated notions of "natural law." His writings also led to the undeniable conclusion that he was strongly opposed to abortion rights, although he denied having any opinion on the subject.

When law professor Anita Hill came forward with allegations that Thomas had sexually harassed her during his tenure as head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Judiciary Committee planned a closed hearing. Knowing that a coverup was at hand, NOW quickly demanded that Hill's charges be heard in a public forum.

Not long after Thomas' confirmation to the Court, as predicted, he had aligned himself with the most reactionary, anti- woman, anti-civil rights wing of the Court. And issues on which he denied having an opinion were the subject of court decisions that belied his protestations of neutrality.

A year later, NOW demonstrations (photo above) reminded the country that Clarence Thomas had misrepresented himself to the Senate, and the "I believe Anita Hill" T-shirts said it all.

The transcipt of the the hearings is available from the University of Maryland.

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