Ilya Shapiro, Robert George & Randall Kennedy – Clarence Thomas: Black American Icon

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If you missed Wednesday’s City Journal and Manhattan Institute-hosted livestream, I’ve got you covered. Today I’m releasing the recording of that livestream as a special bonus episode. This event marked the publication of my City Journal essay “Clarence Thomas and Me,” and I had a stellar line-up alongside me to discuss the essay and the work of Clarence Thomas: Ilya Shapiro of the Manhattan Institute, Robert George of Princeton, and Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School.

0:00 Introductions

2:58 Why Glenn wrote “Clarence Thomas and Me”

5:27 Randall: “Justice Thomas trades on his blackness”

10:58 Glenn: Clarence Thomas has not “betrayed black people”

12:30 Thomas’s engagement with natural law jurisprudence

19:29 How would Thomas have come down on Brown v. Board of Education?

20:55 The loyalty trap

24:20 Randall: Thomas’s originalism may also commit him to sanctioning segregation

28:24 Robbie: There are originalist interpretations that support Brown v. Board of Education

34:07 Thomas’s race cases

36:03 Glenn: Thomas can act as both a principled jurist and as an advocate for the rights of African Americans

40:56 Randall: In 100 years, people will regard Shelby County v. Holder as one of the worst decisions in the Court’s history

44:36 Maintaining integrity under pressure

51:22 What are the differences between Thomas’s, Scalia’s, and Alito’s originalisms?

55:30 Will Thomas have broader popularity in the future?

1:01:10 Is racial solidarity inconsistent with judicial impartiality?

1:03:30 Closing remarks

Recorded January 17, 2024

Links and Readings

Glenn’s City Journal essay, “Clarence Thomas and Me”

Glenn’s book, One by One from the Inside Out : Essays and Reviews on Race and Responsibility in America

Michael McConnell’s article, “The Originalist Case for Brown v. Board of Education”

Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick’s book, The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit

Lon Fuller’s book, The Morality of Law

The documentary on Clarence Thomas, Created Equal