Hours after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas remarked that he has endured more racism from northern liberals than from southern conservatives, an Alabama politician demonstrated that southern liberals can be just as racist as their northern counterparts.
Alabama state Rep. Alvin Holmes, a Democrat and black man, derogatorily referred to Thomas as an “Uncle Tom,” and said he doesn’t like the esteemed Justice because Thomas is married to a white woman.
Holmes’ remarks were reported by Mary Sell, a writer for The Times Daily. She said via Twitter:
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, just said on House floor that he doesn’t like Clarence Thomas because “he’s married to a white woman.”
— Mary Sell (@DD_MarySell) February 11, 2014
Holmes later clarified that he believed he had been misinterpreted, and meant to say that some other people dislike Thomas because he is married to a white woman. The Democratic politician did, however, make it clear that he believes Thomas is an “Uncle Tom,” according to The Washington Times. The derogatory expression is used to demean black people who are seen by other blacks–and by white liberals–as willing defenders of white interests.
The comment underscores one of the points that Thomas made during a speech at Palm Beach Atlantic University on Tuesday. He said that people today are more obsessed with race and identity politics than ever before, and that the most racist people he ever encountered were liberal elites, not southern conservatives. (RELATED: Clarence Thomas: Northern liberal elites more racist than southerners)
Conservative pundit Dan Calabrese said of the incident: “In fairness to Rep. Holmes, all he did was say publicly what many liberals say privately about Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni, who by the way is brilliant in her own right.”