Ginny Thomas reminds women we should be thanking Anita Hill

[deminks]

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/10/20/ginny-thomas-reminds-women-we-should-be-thanking-anita-hill/

Anita Hill spurred two decades of progress on sexual harassment, while Clarence Thomas takes us backward on race

Thank you Anita Hill for courageously laying the groundwork for women to stand up to sexual harassment

Like some of you, I remember the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. It was one of the first examples of politics in the 24-hour news channel age. I remember the discomfort I felt as a panel of angry old white guys grilled this poor woman who dared to speak against their chosen token conservative “negro” who would ultimately replace the legendary Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court.

I remember the panel’s anger when she in fact passed a lie detector test. I remember Clarence Thomas, who has all but built his career as being the non-black black Judge play the race card when all else failed. “As a black man, I feel this is a high-tech lynching,” Thomas said infamously.

(snip)

The Anita Hill case was a turning point for American women, who have endured sexual harassment and gender bias on the job. Even though they dragged her name through the mud, she was unflappable on the stand and gave women everywhere in the U.S. courage to stand up and say “enough is enough.” Subsequent to her testimony the U.S. Supreme Court made employers more liable for sexual harassment in 1998. The Society for Human Resource Management has reported that 62 percent of companies now offer sexual harassment prevention training programs, and 97 percent have a written sexual harassment policy.

(snip)

With Ginny’s actions, we are reminded of the host of anti-woman female candidates being hoisted up the ladders of power by the tea party and the GOP. Carly Fiorina, Sharron Angle, Nikki Haley, Meg Whitman, Christine O’Donnell and of course Sarah Palin. Out of all these women political hopefuls, there is not one among them who would defend a woman’s right to choose. There is not one among them who would stand up for equal protection in the workplace. There is not one among them who has not aligned themselves with the old white guys in the conservative movement who stand as obstacles to social and political progress for women and minorities.

(end snips)

[texastoast]

1. HEAR HEAR!

I remember and these current female candidates just disgust me.

Not one of them deserve to clean Anita's shoes.

[Alameda]

2. Yes, bravo...well said. I remember very well myself.

Most all women had been harassed, it was the way things were done "back then".

[still_one]

3. absolutely, and we should be spitting on Congress for allow a sexist to be nominated /nt

[cspanlovr]

4. You are so right! Until Anita Hill, it was OK to sexually harass at work.

I was fired from my first job in 1971 because of it. This was in a big advertising firm in NYC. The woman in Personnel (Human Resources), who had hired me, just shook her head sadly when I told her the story during my exit interview. She said she understood, but he was a big shot, and there was nothing that could be done. The term "sexual harassment on the job" didn't exist. The very idea of it didn't exist. Men got to try, and you got fired, if you said no. I was young, still lived with my parents, and never told them why I had been fired until many years later. We we watching the news, and Anita Hill was on. And that's the GD truth. I'll never forget their shock.

[Dawson Leery]

5. K/R

Until this case, sexual harassment was acceptable.

[Clio the Leo]

6. And if I may add....

.... there's just something basically WRONG with a white woman, married to a black man (who has no doubt seen a fair amount of prejudice even her privileged world) who would OPENLY oppose Barack Obama .... that's just foul.

It should be a source of pride for her. WE are supposed to look out for one another.

Random side note, how GORGEOUS is Anita looking these days!

[BlueMTexpat]

12. Ginny (or "Ginni" as she apparently prefers) is likely still jealous.

Not only has Anita Hill been at least twice the woman that Ginni has ever been - or ever will be, Anita has aged much better than Ginni has.

Anita also has gotten where she is today because she is an intelligent, hard-working woman. Ginni, on the other hand, has gotten where she is only b/c she is Clarence's wife - they really do deserve each other. Thomas won't even attend Obama's State of the Union speeches b/c he believes that they are too "partisan." But neither he nor Ginni has the slightest problem with her conflict of interest activities. They have almost always fallen into the area of "partisan" politics - and especially when she herself has launched a Tea Party-linked group. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/14/nation/la-na-thomas14-2010mar14

Apparently, it is only Democrats who ever have conflict of interest issues that need to be scrutinized.

[denimgirly]

7. She is definitely an Important Historical Figure.

Without her women wouldn't be as ahead.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Can't believe she went there

It's like, "Remember what a piece of shit my husband is? No? Well, I'll remind you."

[mucifer]

9. I'm not sure but ginny thomas just might help get out the African American vote. nt.

[chervilant]

10. Well,

I must at long last thank Anita Hill for her courage. At almost the same time she was testifying, I was experiencing my first on-the-job sexual harassment. My manager had "the reputation" that we women discussed in hushed tones, sharing suggestions for avoiding being alone with the harasser, or sussing out ways we 'might' be placing ourselves at risk with him--a most egregious dance macabre forced upon us by a society that has long adjured that 'boys will be boys.'

When the 'final straw' incident occurred with this perverse manager, Ms. Hill's calm and courageous testimony helped me overcome my own fears enough to tell my district manager what had been happening. Within days, my district manager moved me out of that branch and into my own branch. I never had to see or speak with that pervert again.

On my last day in the harasser's branch, he demonstrated his complete cluelessness by presenting me with 'going away' presents (the financial institution would not go so far as to fire him, and he'd been told I was leaving because I'd been promoted). I kept these tokens for a wee while to remind myself that speaking up and speaking out is essential.

I will never forget Ms. Hill's courage. And, I cannot thank her enough.

[felix_numinous]

11. Absolutely

and how poetic it is to have a teabagger RW supporter call a African American doctor actually expecting an apology for her husband's loathsome behavior. There are many layers of symbolism here, as well as multiple learning moment opportunities for everyone, except, of course, Mrs. Thomas and hers.

Why indeed do we not have more women in politics as astute as Dr. Hill, this trial is a vital part of women's history in that it plainly recorded what such a woman was up against professionally. Although there is much to ridicule in appointments of truly incompetent women to influential positions, it is actually a national tragedy, and should be a source of shame.

The showcase trial of Dr. Anita Hill showed Americans more than what was intended. Women saw truth spoken to power with dignity and resolve. Dr. Hill did not say she was accusing Mr. Thomas of harassment, she presented her evidence and made the senators decide how to define it. She exposed them as collaborators by allowing them to dismiss this behavior and allow this man to become a Supreme Court judge.

[saltpoint]

13. I haven't had ample time to be dismissive of Virginia

Thomas because I'm still kinda of in shock over what she did.

But whoa, when the shock wears off...

Rec'd.

[ensho]

14. yes, thank you Anita

nt

[madmom]

15. Well said...thank you.

[sam sarrha]

16. an old girlfriend of Thomas has come foward and substanciated Anita's story >link>>

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/10/22/203922/66

"...There was a hint of this in the way the Washington Post covered the story earlier this week about the phone message left for Anita Hill by Virginia Thomas (wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) asking for an apology. They included a quote from a woman, Lillian McEwen, described as a woman who had dated Clarence Thomas in the past who was now working on a memoir of her life, and who said that the harrassing behavior Anita Hill described in her testimony was consistent with the Clarence Thomas she used to date..."