Before Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was appointed in 1991, he rose through the ranks as a prominent Black conservative, who often faced criticism over his controversial views and anti-Black ideas. Now, he’s been on the high court for 35 years, and calls for Thomas to resign and even for Congress to impeach him have grown louder than ever before.

Thomas was one of six justices who ruled to effectively gut Section 2 of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, once again positioning himself on the wrong side of Black history. Here’s all the times Thomas has disappointed Black folks big time.

Throwing Shots at the NAACP

While President Ronald Reagan was in office, he appointed Thomas to serve as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It’s in this position that the Black man repeatedly called out civil rights organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) pointless.

He even told an interviewer there were no areas in which the NAACP was actually doing good work. “I can’t think of any,” he previously said, according to the Washington Post. He also called out all civil rights leaders, who he claimed only “bitch, bitch, bitch, moan and moan, whine and whine.”

Perpetuating Harmful Welfare Queen Stereotypes

Speaking of Reagan…

Thomas first caught the Republican president’s attention after repeatedly perpetuating harmful stereotypes often used against Black Americans. In 1980 during a speech, Thomas called out his own sister saying, “She gets mad when the mailman is late with her welfare check. That is how dependent she is,” according to the Nation. “What’s worse is that now her kids feel entitled to the check too. They have no motivation for doing better or getting out of that situation,” he added.

Overturning Roe v. Wade

In 2022, Thomas along with five of his conservative colleagues issued a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which officially overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Black women in particular– especially poor Black women– were projected to be the most impacted following the Supreme Court’s decision. According to Reuters, Black and brown women historically have been rocked by overwhelming costs of reproductive healthcare and other barriers which often lead to life threatening medical issues.

Threatening LGBTQ+ Rights

Directly after getting rid of Roe v. Wade, Thomas promised to revisit several past cases including the right to contraception, same-sex consensual sexual relationships and same-sex marriage, POLITICO reported.

“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” he said. “Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous’ … we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”

Protecting President Trump

Thomas briefly blocked a subpoena seeking testimony from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham before a Georgia grand jury investigating Trump’s alleged election interference back in 2020. Attorneys involved in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results also described an appeal to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “key” to their strategy, according to emails later leaked publicly, as reported by the Associated Press.

Marriage to Virginia Thomas

While we rarely hear much about the private lives of our Supreme Court Justices, Virginia Thomas stands out as an outspoken conservative, who often raises concerns over her husband’s ability to properly serve in his role as justice.

Specifically, Virginia allegiance to President Donald Trump was confirmed after reports she repeatedly texted Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows following his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden, we previously reported.

“Do not concede. It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back,” she said. The Thomas couple has also been criticized for accepting a number of luxury gifts from influential conservative donors.

Anita Hill

When former President George HW Bush appointed Thomas to serve as Supreme Court justice, past sexual assault allegations from one Black woman came back to light. Attorney and law professor Anita Hill worked as a legal adviser to Thomas in 1991. That’s when she alleged Thomas sexually harassed her and made inappropriate remarks. In the end, Thomas was confirmed in the position.

In 2016, another woman named Moira Smith accused Thomas of groping her.

Overturning Affirmative Action

Despite Thomas benefitting directly from Affirmative Action after he was accepted to Yale University, the Supreme Justice worked hard to make sure the policy would die once he reached the high court.

“I’ve heard the word ‘diversity’ quite a few times, and I don’t have a clue what it means,” Thomas said back in 2022. The next year, the Supreme Court reversed its originally decision on Affirmative Action, with Thomas declaring “all forms of discrimination based on race — including so-called affirmative action — are prohibited under the Constitution.” 

In truth Affirmative Action was designed to provide educational and professional opportunities for marginalized groups, including women and Black folks, according to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. It acted as a remedy for past discrimination.

Denying Student Loan Program

In 2024, the Supreme Court blocked Biden’s plan to forgive some or all federal student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans. In a 6-3 ruling, the Justices determined that federal law does not grant the Department of Education the authority to cancel that debt. Justice Thomas, of course, joined the majority, despite having written in his 2007 memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” about the “crushing weight” of his own student loan debt from Yale.

Crystal Clanton Scandal

Conservative law clerk Crystal Clanton has faced scrutiny over past racist text messages, but federal courts have declined to investigate the matter further. In 2017, The New Yorker reported that she had sent a message to a friend stating, “I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like f**k them all.” Clanton, who at one point lived with Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas, was defended by Thomas, who said, “I know Crystal Clanton and I know bigotry. Bigotry is antithetical to her nature.”

Attacks on Brown v. Board of Education

One week after the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, Thomas issued a shocking criticism for the decision that made racial segregation in schools illegal. He argued the courts have no business in deciding if congressional maps actually discriminate against Black people.

Thomas criticized the Supreme Court for taking a “boundless view of equitable remedies” when it declared in 1955 that all Americans schools need to comply with the initial 1954 decision, according to Axios.

False Claims About COVID-19 Vaccincines

During the height of the global pandemic, Thomas stood out in the minority of justices who apposed a vaccination mandate for healthcare workers in new York by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Thomas publicly claimed Covid vaccines were made with the cells of aborted fetuses, a claim which has been repeatedly debunked, according to NBC News.

His conspiracy theory came as thousands of Black folks were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. According to the National Library of Medicine, Black Americans experienced higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death compared to white counterparts.

‘Removing the Teeth’ From the Voting Rights Act

On Wednesday (April 29), Clarence sided with the conservative majority to effectively invalidate Section 2 of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination in voting, we previously told you. The 6-3 ruling was met with immediate backlash from Black folks accusing the Justices, namely Thomas, of enabling future Jim Crow-era redistricting schemes, which will dilute Black voting blocs and lessen the amount of Black leadership in Congress.