Clarence Thomas, the famously silent jurist, tells his own life story in a new documentary, “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words” which makes its national television debut May 18 on PBS.
The two-hour film explores Thomas’ life, from his 1948 birth in the small town of Pin Point, Georgia, to his upbringing as a poor black kid in the segregated South, to his liberal phase in college, to his conversion to conservatism, to his rise to the nation’s highest court.
Opinion polls at the time showed a small majority of the public believed Thomas should be confirmed, which he was 52-48 in 1991; Biden, the likely Democratic nominee for president, is facing his own uncorroborated sexual allegations.
Thomas was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be chairman of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and a federal judge before his Supreme Court nomination.
The film’s title reflects Thomas’ belief the courts should adhere strictly to the original intent of the founding fathers, who wrote “All men are created equal” at the start of the Declaration of Independence.
