Sex & Justice Kenneth Martin

Kenneth Martin

AP US Government & Politics Period 3

Mrs. Gordon

March 7, 2016

1. A “high-tech lynching” is the idea that rather than actually killing Clarence Thomas like historical lynchings, the purpose of the hearings are to kill his reputation. According to Thomas, the allegations and hearings are racially motivated and use stereotypes of black men to harm his reputation, much in the same way that people used those stereotypes and accusations of sexual misconduct to justify killing black men. Prof. Hill, however, claimed she was simply trying to bring the truth to light and that she had nothing to gain by going through this highly publicized process. Contrary to Thomas’ claim about a “high-tech lynching”, the congressional committee was much kinder to him than to Prof. Hill, who sat through hours of intense and often ridiculous questioning, while during Clarence Thomas’ hearing there seemed to be very little opposition to his claims. A large majority of the comments during the hearings were heavily biased in favor of Thomas. The committee’s handling of the hearings certainly affected the outcome of their findings, which unfairly dismissed Anita Hill’s claims.
2. In the 1950’s the Red Scare was in full swing and Sen. Joseph McCarthy was a leading figure in it. During this time, a number of hearings and investigations into a perceived Communist threat were held. The many people accused of being Communists were deprived of their First and Fifth Amendment rights and their careers and reputations were ruined. The McCarthy hearings and the treatment of Clarence Thomas by the Senate Judiciary Committee were similar in that they were highly publicized, but the similarities end there. Unlike the victims of accusations by McCarthy and other anti-Communists, Thomas was treated fairly well by the committee and by the public. In addition, most of the claims against people accused of being Communists were false or highly exaggerated, while in my opinion the allegations against Clarence Thomas are likely to be true.