Clarence Thomas in 1983: 'God only knows where' I would be if not for affirmative action

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was an enthusiastic participant in the majority ruling from Chief Justice John Roberts invalidating race-based affirmative action programs this week. He has written various attacks on the practice in other opinions over the years, writing in 2013, “The worst forms of racial discrimination in this Nation have always been accompanied by straight-faced representations that discrimination helped minorities.”

He was saying something different in 1983, notedThe Washington Post.

"Clarence Thomas told staffers at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that 'God only knows where I would be today' if not for the legal principles of equal employment opportunity measures such as affirmative action that are 'critical to minorities and women in this society,'" wrote Timothy Bella. "'These laws and their proper application are all that stand between the first 17 years of my life and the second 17 years,' Thomas, then the EEOC chairman, said in 1983. His comments were later cited in outlets including The Washington Post, the New York Times and Newsweek."

Conservative commentators have denied there was a reversal here, noted the article: "A 2022 opinion piece in the National Review argued that Thomas had praised 'the proper application of the laws' instead of affirmative action."

Thomas, one of the most extreme right-wing members of the Court, has often been scrutinized for inconsistencies in the narrative about his life and background. He frequently attacked his own sister in remarks, claiming that she grew up dependent on welfare, but in the early 90s, investigative reporters found this was a gross misrepresentation.

Thomas has also come under fire recently amid reports that he accepted lavish travel and gifts from Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor who had business before the Court, and did not disclose it.