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Clarence Thomas Controversy Of Becoming Anita Hill

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In 1991, President Bush Sr. was in office, the first Gulf War raged, and Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court, was leaving office. Women were earning 30% less than their male counterparts and just 33 women held positions in the U.S. Congress (“The Wage Gap Over Time,” 2016; Manning, Brudnick, & Shogan, 2015). Then, as now, conflicts between conservative and progressive values dominated the public conversation, and controversy plagued the President’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas (“An Outline of the Hill/Thomas Controversy”). the middle of all this, Anita Hill, an attorney and professor from Oklahoma, spoke out about sexual harassment she experienced while working for Clarence Thomas. Hill’s choice to speak out ignited a national discussion about sexual harassment in the workplace, and fundamentally changed the narrative surrounding women who spoke out about unwanted sexual attention. Her role as a leader in women’s equality cannot be overstated; Hill raised her voice in a time and situation in which it would have been far safer and far simpler to say nothing at all. Becoming Anita Hill Anita Hill …show more content…

During her hearing, Hill detailed how Thomas had repeatedly harassed her with comments of a sexual nature, how Thomas had persistently tried to date her, and how Thomas had made comments about his own sexual prowess. Thomas had talked to Hill about pornography, bestiality, and genitalia, making her work life nearly unbearable. The day following Hill’s testimony, Thomas sat in front of the Judiciary Committee and flatly denied all of Hill’s allegations. Thomas, with the apparent sympathy of the committee, accused Hill of imagining and falsifying the stories, and of using race to stereotype him (“An Outline of the Hill/Thomas

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