Project 21’s Kevin Martin Takes on Bennie Thompson Targeting Clarence Thomas

Last week, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), a veteran congressman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security, shocked Capitol Hill by calling U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas an “Uncle Tom.”

In the wake of referring to Thomas by this disrespectful slur on a radio program broadcast by the New Nation of Islam, Thompson was given a chance to atone for his inappropriate comment – yet he only doubled-down on the offense.

In that subsequent interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Thompson refused to distance himself from the outlandish comment he made about the long-time respected jurist.  In fact, rather than repudiating the “Uncle Tom” term, Thompson actually qualified his hate speech by pointing out to Bash that “the people I represent have a real issue with and African-American not being sensitive to these issues” such as affirmative action and voter ID requirements.

Thompson said this is a “real problem” that he claimed made him and his constituents consider Thomas to be an “Uncle Tom” and that “he doesn’t like being black.”

P21KevinMartinKevin Martin, a member of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network, is taking Representative Thomas to task for his unseemly speech, saying:

It would appear that progressives such as Representative Bennie Thompson have chosen the low road in attacking Justice Clarence Thomas.

I would expect that, if Representative Thompson actually believed in the rule of law, which his comments appear to indicate he does not, he would understand that the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court base their decisions on the merits of the law.  They are not supposed to inject their personal views into their rulings.

Furthermore, I believe Thompson’s personal attacks on Thomas are out of his frustration over the fact that the Court ruled against key parts of the progressive agenda.

Along with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Thompson has tried to convince Americans that opposition to President Obama’s failed agenda is race-based.  In reality, I consider very little opposition to Obama to be based on the President’s race.  Instead, I see it rooted in his flawed policies such as his partisan health care takeover, failed stimulus spending packages and the growing national frustration for the lack of transparency and unwillingness to be held accountable.

It looks like Representative Thompson is simply looking for a scapegoat because Americans are repudiating a progressive agenda he so blindly supports.



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