Review by Choice Review
Robin (political science, Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center) has written extensively on conservative political thought. In this intellectual biography, Robin asserts that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is not a conservative in any conventional sense. Basing his study on Thomas's speeches and writing, Robin argues that key to understanding Thomas's often-controversial jurisprudence is realizing that Thomas never lost his youthful fascination with Malcolm X. Thomas is a black nationalist. For him, racism is eternal and ineradicable. Political remedies are ineffectual, and efforts at integration will always fail. Thomas does not insist that the races must live separately, but he believes that African Americans can live dignified lives only by following the example of Thomas's businessman grandfather and building a separate economy. Consequently, he favors a weak central government with few powers so majorities cannot use government to oppress minorities. Exceptions are related to his concerns: for example, he supports government-protected gun rights so African Americans can defend themselves against racist mobs. Though Robin's approach explains much of Thomas's jurisprudence, some aspects of Thomas's beliefs (his religious clause interpretation, his anti-abortion stance) do not seem to fit. Nor does Thomas's reliance on "originalism," a justification a black nationalist should not need. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Graduate students, researchers, faculty; general readers. --Paul Lermack, emeritus, Bradley University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Robin (The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump), a political science teacher at CUNY, offers a radical reinterpretation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's jurisprudence, contending that Thomas is first and foremost a kind of conservative black nationalist. He argues that Thomas's opinions are driven not by a coherent theory of constitutional law but by personal experience, particularly his upbringing: Robin recounts that Thomas, deserted by his father, was raised by his successful and idealized capitalist grandfather, who felt making money was the salvation of black America and was therefore pro-deregulation. Robin deconstructs Thomas's decisions on high-profile issues including racial discrimination, voting rights, the Second Amendment, and campaign finance, concluding that, for example, Thomas considers affirmative action a tool of elite Americans to protect their privilege and stigmatize African-Americans, and that it is imperative that the Second Amendment extend to personal gun ownership because historically arms were necessary for the protection of black citizens in a racist and hostile society. Robin credibly mines Thomas's speeches, opinions, and writings in support of his thesis, but the weight he gives to Thomas's formative experiences feels overstated, and his conclusions are simultaneously too speculative and too pat to sway skeptics. Nonetheless, this novel view of the often-inscrutable Thomas will give court watchers food for thought. (Sept.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
For Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, racism in America can never be expunged.Analyzing speeches, court opinions, and Thomas' writings, Robin (Political Science/Brooklyn Coll. and CUNY Graduate Center; The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism From Edmund Burke to Donald Trump, 2017, etc.) argues persuasively that Thomas' right-wing conservatism and black nationalism make him "the most extreme justice on the Supreme Court." Thomas, writes the author, believes "that racism is permanent, the state is ineffective, and politics is feeble." Noting that he rejects "virtually all of Thomas's views," Robin warns against dismissing them, and he presents them in detail along with critiques from other justices and analysts. Central to Thomas' beliefs is the valorization of the black male provider and protector, "a figure of authority whose word is law for the women and children under his care." Black men, "stolid, moral, responsible, authoritative, upstanding," are essential to the black community. For Thomas, white racism and liberal politics combine to undermine black interests. Blacks, therefore, "should cease to look to electoral politics as a means of bettering their situation; any involvement in electoral politics will only confirm white power and reinforce black powerlessness." Efforts such as affirmative action, for example, reinforce black powerlessness by failing to treat blacks and whites as equals, defining blacks as "inferior and deficient." When Thomas considers the incarceration rate for blacks and liberals' cry for judicial and prison reform, he counters that "the racist dimensions of the carceral state" actually benefit African Americans: Harsh policing protects black neighborhoods from crime, and stringent punishment fosters law-abiding behavior. Adversityeven slavery and society under Jim Crow"helps the black community develop its inner virtue and resolve." Acknowledging that we are all trapped "in the same historical moment" as Thomas, Robin asks readers to examine the premises underlying their own social and political views. Thomas' "beliefs are disturbing, even ugly," Robin acknowledges; "his style is brutal. I want to make us sit with that discomfort rather than swat it away."A penetrating profile of the Supreme Court's longest-serving justice. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
