Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, went on a racially charged rant comparing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the iconic house slave character in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 film “Django Unchained.”
The former congressman sat down for an interview last week with the Michigan Chronicle in Detroit, where he was asked to weigh in on Thomas’ views on affirmative action.
Thomas, the second black justice to sit on the bench, sided with the 6-3 majority ruling in June to outlaw race considerations in the college admissions process, arguing in his opinion that individuals are the “sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments.”
2024 GOP CANDIDATES CALL LAST WEEK’S SUPREME COURT DECISIONS A WIN FOR ‘FREEDOM’
Ellison said Thomas’ decision put him in line with the character “Stephen,” played by Samuel L. Jackson in “Django Unchained.” In the film, Stephen is a sadist who remains loyal to his master, the film’s antagonist, Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Anybody who’s watched the movie ‘Django,’ just watch Stephen and you see Clarence Thomas,” Ellison said. “Clarence Thomas has decided that his best personal interest is siding with the powerful and the special interests regardless as to who they’re going to hurt. He’s like, I’m looking out for me, and I don’t care nothing about you, but I’m on the Supreme Court so it’s my job to look out for you.’ So he’s abdicating his responsibility. He has abdicated it a long time ago. When he got in office, he was this way. He’s this way now, maybe he’s worse now.”
Ellison argued that Thomas’ position on the High Court is “illegitimate” and that he should be impeached.
“So, Clarence Thomas needs to be impeached,” he continued. “Clarence Thomas is illegitimate and has no basis in the job that he’s in. And it’s a lesson to us as African Americans. What is the lesson? We all thought, well, he’s a Black man raised he’s in the Deep South. He knows what racism and segregation is, he knows what affirmative action is. He’s going to come around one day.”
“Understand that it’s not a matter of pigment. It’s not what’s on your skin, it’s what’s in your mind,” he added.
