(HorizonPost.com) – Last week during a vote on erecting a statue of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in Georgia, Democrat State Senator Emmanuel Jones called the justice an “Uncle Tom” and accused him of selling his soul “to the slave masters.”
The Georgia Senate voted along party lines, 32 to 20, last Tuesday to create a statue on the Capitol grounds in Atlanta commemorating Thomas, who is a native Georgian. The proposal will now move to the state House for more debate.
However, during the Senate’s debate over the bill, state Senator Jones, who is black, voiced his opposition to the measure, saying the positions taken by Justice Thomas were “offensive” to him. He claimed that Republicans “don’t get it,” explaining that blacks use the term “Uncle Tom” to describe someone who “sold his soul to the slave masters.”
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Georgia’s state Senate initially passed the bill last year, but the measure didn’t have the votes needed to clear the state House.
During last year’s debate in the Senate, Democrat Senators even dredged up Anita Hill as a reason not to honor Thomas with a statue. During Thomas’ confirmation hearing, Hill accused him of sexual harassment as a way to derail his nomination. Several state Democrats vowed to fight the plan, arguing that placing a statue of Thomas on the Capitol grounds would be an insult to victims of sexual harassment.
Earlier this month, Republican state Senators Jason Anavitarte and Ben Watson revived the bill, despite vocal opposition from Democrats.
State Senator Watson told the Washington Examiner last week that he is confident the bill will pass the House this year. Watson also reiterated that taxpayer funds would not be used for the project, noting that the legislation creates a monument committee that will be responsible for handling the design of the statue while seeking funding through private donations.
Clarence Thomas, the nation’s second black man to sit on the Supreme Court, is a native of Pin Point, just outside of Atlanta.
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