Sex and Justice Response- Emily Agnew

Emily Agnew

AP U.S. Government & Politics

Ms. Gordon

March 3, 2016

Sex & Justice

Prompt 1:

Lynching means unauthorized punishment by a specific group, mainly targeting african americans. I think Justice Clarence Thomas is suggesting that the “false” accusations being pressed against him are because he is a man of color. He is also suggesting that Anita Hill is making these claims because she is allegedly trying to ruin his reputation. Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment, which included unwanted commentary that was extremely inappropriate and unnecessary. Thomas proceeded to deny every single claim Hill made, and tried to make himself the victim by saying Hill was stereotyping black men and that the accusations were racist. I absolutely side with Anita Hill, and I believe her allegations were true. All she wanted to do was share her unfair experiences as well as bring justice. Thomas played the dumbfounded card, and denied anything and everything Hill said. He acted like he had no idea what she was talking about, and tried to make himself look good while she looked bad. Thomas knew his nomination to the Supreme Court as well as his entire reputation was at stake, and he did everything he could to make sure he came out of this trial untouched, which is exactly what happened. The entire congressional committee was men, which created heavy bias against Anita Hill. The committee was extremely harsh on Hill, and were mainly taking Thomas’s side because they “knew him.” The committee did not take Hill or this trial as seriously as they should have. While the democrats were more empathetic and understanding to Hill, the republicans were attacking her and blowing her off, because they were defending Thomas; they were on his side. Since the majority of the committee was favoring Thomas, and being extremely hard on Hill, Thomas was able to continue his career with no sort of punishment, and go on to being a Supreme Court Justice to this day.

Prompt 2:

The Sex and Justice trial is very similar to the Communism Hearing held by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950. The Red Scare was at rise during the 1950’s, and McCarthy accused about 200 members of the U.S. government as foreign spies. These accusations created speculation of countless government officials, as well as ruined their reputations. While Anita Hill was only trying to tell the truth and bring justice forth, McCarthy simply made these accusations for his own benefit. Neither one of the men were found guilty in both of these cases. Hill just wanted justice to be brought, and for Thomas to face the consequences of his actions. Thomas went on untouched and was soon after voted onto the Supreme Court. McCarthy was also able to remain in office. Both of these men used their power and influence to get off home free, even though they wronged others.