Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison likened Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to a house slave character in the film “Django Unchained” in a recent interview, drawing a blistering response from George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.
Ellison was interviewed last week by the Michigan Chronicle and was talking about establishing an ethical standard for Supreme Court justices — the left is always quick to highlight concerns about conservative justices while ignoring that Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s total investments before Barack Obama nominated her in 2009 were between $50,001 and $115,000, but as of last year those investments are between $1.6 million and $6.6 million, according to Fox News.
“And, you know, maybe we can pass an ethical standard for them so that they can’t be so obviously bought off by outside interests,” Ellison said in the interview.
When journalist Andre Ash asked the Democrat about Justice Clarence Thomas, Ellison said he should be removed from the bench while comparing Thomas to the house slave portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the Quentin Tarantino film.
“Anyone who has watched the movie Django, just watch Stephen and you see Clarence Thomas,” he said.
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison likens Clarence Thomas to ‘Django Unchained’ house slave pic.twitter.com/DRpE6oaAkI
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) July 18, 2023
“Clarence Thomas has decided that his best personal interest is siding with the powerful and the special interests regardless of who they’re going hurt,” Ellison opined.
“So he’s abdicating his responsibility. He has abdicated it a long time ago. When he got in office, he was this way, he’s this way now, maybe he’s worse now,” he said. “So Clarence Thomas needs to be impeached. Clarence Thomas is illegitimate and has no basis in the job that he’s in. And it’s a lesson to us as African Americans.”
“What is the lesson? Well, we all thought ‘Well, he’s a Black man raised in the deep south. He knows what racism, segregation is. He knows what affirmative action is,’” Ellison continued. “’He’s gonna come around one day.’ Understand that it’s not a matter of pigment. It’s not what’s on your skin, it’s what’s in your mind.”
In effect, the former congressman is saying a black person is not black if they don’t adhere to radical left dogma.
Professor Turley took note of the “hateful rhetoric” from Democrats “that has become all too routine.”
…Putting aside his absurd claim that Thomas is illegitimate because Ellison disagrees with his rulings, Ellison portrayed him to a house slave because of his race. He did not declare Alito or Gorsuch as house slaves or illegitimate. Just Thomas.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 17, 2023
He also reminded social media users that Georgia State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D) called Thomas an “Uncle Tom.”
…He is not the only one on the left analogizing Thomas to a house slave. https://t.co/eS79tkoJyg Notably, Samuel L. Jackson who played the character in the movie also referred to Justice Thomas as “Uncle Clarence.” https://t.co/3Rk07Fro7V
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 17, 2023
Turley cited the fact that the Smithsonian did not include Thomas, the second black man to sit on the highest court, as one of the most famous African Americans but included Anita Hill to say the “hatred” for Clarence Thomas is commonplace — the Smithsonian would later relent, he noted.
“Few in the media are willing to acknowledge that incredible story of a man who was born on the Georgia coast and grew up speaking Gullah, the creole dialect. His home was a one-room shack with dirt floors and no plumbing. He grew up without a Dad, who left him at two…, Turley tweeted. “Yet, because he follows a conservative jurisprudential view, he is called an ‘Uncle Tom’ and ‘house slave’ with little objection from liberal leaders who have portrayed themselves as champions against hateful and racist rhetoric.”
…Yet, because he follows a conservative jurisprudential view, he is called an “Uncle Tom” and “house slave” with little objection from liberal leaders who have portrayed themselves as champions against hateful and racist rhetoric.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 17, 2023
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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