in Obergefell v. Hodges, Clarence Thomas said this in his dissent:

Human dignity has long been understood in this country to be innate. When the Framers proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” they referred to a vision of mankind in which all humans are created in the image of God and therefore of inherent worth. That vision is the foundation upon which this Nation was built.

The corollary of that principle is that human dignity cannot be taken away by the government. Slaves did not lose their dignity (any more than they lost their humanity) because the government allowed them to be enslaved. Those held in internment camps did not lose their dignity because the government confined them. And those denied governmental benefits certainly do not lose their dignity because the government denies them those benefits. The government cannot bestow dignity, and it cannot take it away.

Of course, people understandably lost their shit.

Larry Wilmore does a good job of summing up the counter-argument:

“Do you even know what slavery is?” Wilmore asked. “Slavery is the complete stripping of humanity and dignity. That’s the point of slavery. When do you think slaves were whipped? Whenever they tried to dare to show any humanity or dignity.”


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/larry-wilmore-clarence-thomas-is-exactly-wrong-on-slavery-and-human-dignity/


Now I get Wilmore's point of view but what I think Clarence Thomas means is that the government can TRY to take away a person's dignity but ultimately it's up to the person as to whether they lose their dignity because we are in control our dignity and humanity.

This makes me think about the woman who I call grandma who was a domestic. Though she lived in a beatdown trailer and scrubbed toilets for a living but I have always known her to be a dignified proud lady and a shining example of a good person.

I kind of get that if that is what CT is talking about.

But it is also kind of bullshit. We shouldn't have to quietly and dignified suffer. We shouldn't have to be Denzel Washington standing proud and tall looking white folks in the eye while being whipped like in Glory.

And whether or not the government can take away a person's dignity is irrelevant. The government should not be allow to even TRY and take away peoples dignity and humanity.


I doubt there is anyone who hates CT more than I do (and his wife is a close second on my list of people I hate most), but some times I do recognize a strand of very old school black thought that is someone radical is pre-integration and hinges on the idea of I ain't asking white folks for sh*t.

Clarence Thomas displays an anger that I recognize in a lot of older black men.

Other times I recognized that his self-loathing has reached peak self-loathing which is unimaginable for a person clearly so successful. I mean Herman Cain and Ben Carson are on some bullshit but

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson


"One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as 'that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you're