Tag Archives: dignity

Star Trek’s George Takei Says Clarence Thomas Is A “Clown In Blackface George Takei boldly goes where many have gone before… Via HuffingtonPost George Takei has come under fire this week for calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a “clown in blackface” over the judge’s stance on marriage equality. However, the “Star Trek” actor insists that his comment was not racially motivated. During an interview with Fox 10 Phoenix, Takei, who is gay, discussed the Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. Takei said he was “angry” at Thomas, who dissented to the decision, for his position on the issue. “He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court,” said Takei. “He gets me that angry. He doesn’t belong there.” In his dissent, Thomas, who is black, wrote that “human dignity cannot be taken away by the government,” adding: “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.” Suffice to say, George ain’t feelin’ ol’ Clarence. Takei, whose family was held inside a Japanese internment camp during World War II, took issue with this logic. “For him to say slaves have dignity, I mean, doesn’t he know that slaves were in chains? That they were whipped on the back?” Takei said. “My parents lost everything that they worked for in the middle of their lives, in their 30s. His business, my father’s business, our home, our freedom and we’re supposed to call that dignified?… This man does not belong on the Supreme Court. He is an embarrassment. He is a disgrace to America.” After a slew of backlash, George took to Facebook to further clarify his incendiary comments: A few fans have written wondering whether I intended to utter a racist remark by referring to Justice Thomas as a “clown in blackface.” “Blackface” is a lesser known theatrical term for a white actor who blackens his face to play a black buffoon. In traditional theater lingo, and in my view and intent, that is not racist. It is instead part of a racist history in this country. I feel Justice Thomas has abdicated and abandoned his African American heritage by claiming slavery did not strip dignity from human beings. He made a similar remark about the Japanese American internment, of which I am a survivor. A sitting Justice of the Supreme Court ought to know better. I have expressed my full thoughts on the matter here. We can’t say that the term “blackface” is a “lesser known” theatrical term, at this point in time we’re pretty sure that most folks know EXACTLY what it means. “To say that the government does not bestow or grant dignity does not mean it cannot succeed in stripping it away through the imposition of unequal laws and deprivation of due process. At the very least, the government must treat all its subjects with equal human dignity,” he wrote. “It seems odd that Justice Thomas, as an African American, would be an opponent of marriage equality. His own current marriage, if he had sought to have it some fifty years ago, would have been illegal under then-existing anti-miscegenation laws. I cannot help but wonder if Justice Thomas would have felt any loss of dignity had the clerk’s office doors been shut in his face, simply because he was of a different race than his fiancée.” What do think of George’s remark? Many in the black community have used this term and many other pejoratives to describe Justice Thomas over the years. Are you uncomfortable with someone outside of the community using this kind of language toward a black man? Image via AP/WENN

More:
Race Matters: Gay Star Trek Actor George Takei Says Clarence Thomas Is A “Clown In Blackface” For Same Sex Marriage Dissent