Blind ego!

In an eagerly awaited ruling, the US Supreme court recently voted in favor of keeping the Voting Rights Act as it is. In layman’s terms, the Voting Rights Act passed by Congress in 1965, gives authority to the Federal Government to make sure that minorities are not prevented from voting in various states. This was primarily meant for the southern states (like Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia) where racial discrimination was rampant in those days. President Lyndon Johnson championed this law knowing that it is going to cost the Democratic Party the southern states for years to come (as the angry whites switched to the Republican Party). And he was right. Most of the southern states were ‘red’ until the recent Presidential election. Anyway, the enforcement of this Act gave blacks a voice in the government, and was the starting point of their progress towards ‘equality’. The conditions of the blacks voting have improved over the years, with Barrack Obama becoming the US President as the best example. Still the Supreme Court voted 8-1 in favor of keeping this law. Guess who the lone dissenter was? It was Clarence Thomas, the only black in the US Supreme Court! Justice Thomas is openly angry and sensitive about anyone saying that being an Afro-American has got anything to do with his accomplishments. I guess his dissent vote is an expression of his disgust at blacks getting special consideration. Obviously, he thinks that he got nominated to the Supreme Court by President George H. W. Bush, because of his excellent legal mind! (Clarence Thomas is known as silent member of the Supreme Court who never asks a question) The funny thing is that when his nomination appeared to tank due to accusation of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, he cried out about being ‘lynched’ -- which made everyone cautious about voting against him. He had no problem in using his Afro American heritage then!