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The Legacy of Doubt: The Treatment of Race and Sex in the Hill-Thomas Hearings

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1992

Publication Title

Southern California Law Review

Abstract

Justice Clarence Thomas has been sworn in as the 106th Supreme Court Justice. He is the second African-American Justice. After weeks of televised confirmation hearings, extensive public debate among citizens and in the media, and the final Senate vote, questions still remain whether justice has been served. There has been massive broadcast and print coverage of these events, which captured the country's attention.

Television added a different dimension to the process, which became a human drama when Professor Anita Hill's sexual harassment claim and Justice Thomas's denial were aired. The nation watched mesmerized, waiting for a Perry Mason to rise and announce who lied, but no Perry appeared. We have only ourselves to assess credibility and to record history.

Even since the confirmation vote, the controversy over who told the truth has not been put to rest. Newspaper op-ed pieces, an episode of a popular prime time television show, and a People Magazine cover story only begin to illustrate the extent to which these events have touched a national nerve.

Keywords

Race, Sex, Gender, Hill-Thomas Hearings

Publication Citation

Adrienne D. Davis & Stephanie M. Wildman, The Legacy of Doubt: The Treatment of Race and Sex in the Hill-Thomas Hearings, 65 S. Cal. L. Rev 1367 (1992).

Comments

Reprinted in CRITICAL RACE FEMINISM: A READER (Adrien Katherine Wing, ed., 1997) (New York University Press).

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