This stretches my belief in his story. I was objective enough to suspend any disbelief in his recollection. After all, this is not an autobiography, but a memoir. Therefore, it is not filled with minute detail. But there is enough detail for the reader to respect this man’s recall. He candidly writes about how he came to call the hearings “a high-tech lynching.”

What turns the tide in his favor comes when he is asked by a reporter what he thinks of the latest televised testimony by Hill. He admits that he had no reason to watch TV and review what she said of him. The reporter is shocked. Clarence realizes that not watching so that he could defend himself is a big mistake, which he quickly rectifies. He puts pen to paper and writes a scathing “opinion” as to what Anita Hill's charge is all about: taking down an uppity black man. He reads that paper to a stunned media and immediately thereafter gets confirmation and takes the oath of Supreme Court judge filling the vacated seat of Justice Thurgood Marshall.

This book will not end the arguments for or against affirmative action or set-asides based on racial minority status. One can be certain that Thomas does not wink or blink when he stands firm on his opposition to it. The question of  the moral or social value that Clarence Thomas’ appointment to the Supreme Court has contributed or detracted from the perceived liberalism (or voting Democratic) that blacks value will also not be resolved by reading his memoirs. But one thing can be resolved: That he is a black man who has earned his stripes and his place in the pinnacle of society that he currently enjoys with his family.  

I read this book with rapt attention cover to cover. It left me wondering and looking for even deeper soul searching by this black man so questioned by his peers and his countrymen. And with the real possibility that an African American could become the Democratic party’s nominee for president means that this question of affirmative action for blacks, browns and the disadvantaged won’t go away. And correctly should not go away.