The journey of Clarence Thomas from a childhood spent in poverty in rural Georgia to his appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States is a remarkable American success story. Yet his My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir is less about his meteoric career than about the formation of his character.
As the title suggests, Thomas was brought up (together with his younger brother, Myers) by his hard-working grandfather: a very early riser, no-nonsense disciplinarian, devout Catholic and American patriot. The boys attended St. Benedict the Moor grammar school in Savannah, where Franciscan nuns taught by word and example that all men are created equal. Young Clarence loved serving Mass and even attended minor seminary.
Though gifted with keen intelligence, he had to work harder than most students to learn standard English, Latin and study skills. He had already learned determination and discipline at home, and so he excelled in academics. His youthful idealism was shaken by painful encounters with racism, and he “lost his vocation” and much of his faith.
Thomas attended college and law school from 1967 to 1974 — turbulent years on American campuses. His interest in the civil rights movement influenced his decision to become a lawyer, and for a while he bought into black radicalism. He became uncomfortable with the practical consequences of liberal policies (e.g. busing students, racial quotas); reading books by Thomas Sowell helped him find the courage to think like a conservative.
After earning his law degree from Yale, Clarence Thomas worked for the attorney general in Missouri, John Danforth, who became a loyal friend and later a U.S. Senator. Through a combination of his outstanding abilities and fortunate career moves, Thomas soon headed the national Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which he completely reformed. Yet in those same years he had to deal with divorce, lingering debt, the deaths of several close relatives and a drinking problem.
After a short stint as a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court, Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court. His calm yet intensely personal account of the confirmation hearings occupies the last third of the book. Those televised hearings degenerated into a media circus, a thinly-disguised attempt to smear a potentially anti-abortion candidate with racist stereotypes. Thomas famously characterized the proceedings as “a high-tech lynching”. This trial by fire brought him to his knees.
The memoir ends with the ceremony in which Clarence Thomas was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. Readers interested in his years on the Supreme Court or his subsequent return to the Catholic faith will have to wait for a second volume.
Professional writers helped the author to shape the material for his book, but the “voice” is unmistakably the same one that you hear in Justice Thomas’ recent interview on the EWTN news program. His memoir reveals his profound love and respect for the grandparents who raised him, his powerful intellect and awareness of social inequities, his ability to look back with serenity at the political storms that he has weathered, and even a jovial sense of humor.
In the Preface, the author says that one of his purposes in writing was to set the record straight; “I didn’t want to leave the telling to those with careless hands or malicious hearts.” More importantly, though, Thomas’ book is a tribute to his grandparents and the many other people whose faith, work, sacrifices and good example helped and guided him through the years.
[This review originally appeared in Homiletic and Pastoral Review and is used by permission of the author.]
