The Confirmation heard around the world.
I will never forget what the Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas case taught me. I briefly express how affected I was by Kimberle Crenshaw’s article that explains Hill’s experience in my ‘about me’ section of the blog. Although I read about this story on paper, to “relive” this important moment in history was powerful. While watching Confirmation I realized that although Clarence Thomas was confirmed to have a seat on the Supreme Court, the real confirmation was that a Black woman’s experience does not matter in comparison to the experiences of Black men. That was the confirmation heard and seen around the world. Therefore, I am going to point out my top six scenes or themes that made the real confirmation clear to me. Here we go…
Conversations around race, womanhood, and the political process at the beginning of the film- As Confirmation begins we are quickly taken through the process of how Clarence Thomas was nominated to sit on the Supreme Court. Prior to Clarence Thomas, Thurgood Marshall was the only Black man (no Black woman) to have a seat on the Supreme Court. In addition to this, women protested that the decision to nominate Thomas to have a seat on the Supreme Court was an insult to the legacy of Thurgood Marshall. They also protested against the lack of abortion counseling.
This all revealed that women (mostly White) were standing up for themselves, and that George H. W. Bush did not care about who was nominated and confirmed to have a seat on the Supreme Court. Even though the government made it seem like they did not want to focus on race for their next nominee, Bush chose a Black man. The fact that this nomination caused turmoil, for a little while, revealed that choices were poorly made. As long as the next nominee was a Black man, Bush did not care about whether or not this nominee was good enough. I believe it is crucial when each of these topics- race, womanhood, and poor choices of political figures- are given a back-story in the beginning of a movie. It conveys that one topic cannot live without the other in this particular situation.
The Introduction and focus on Clarence Thomas’ wife (Virginia Thomas)- I wonder why Thomas was so happy to introduce Virginia in his initial nomination hearing? He seemed proud to have a White woman on his arm. Another thing I noticed was that despite having fewer lines, the camera spent a lot of time focused on her face when she was in a scene. Virginia went from proud of her husband, to hiding tears, to not knowing what to say when Clarence Thomas mentioned race, and back to being proud when her husband was confirmed to have a seat on the Supreme Court.
I am sure these focused camera shots were used to emphasize the fact that you learn to stay quiet in order to not ruin your partner’s chances of “making it.” Yet and still, I was very annoyed by her. Virginia Thomas’ silence seemed more about losing a dream, and not an internal struggle. Thomas did not care about Anita Hill or her womanhood. On the other hand, there was another woman the camera spent a lot of time on too; this woman’s name was Judy Smith.
Judy Smith- A very powerful Black woman. She was the Deputy Press Secretary for the White House. She was a powerful Black woman who worked with and for a multitude of White and older men called Senators. Similar to Virginia Thomas, there are a lot of intentional camera shots that focus on Smith’s facial and body expressions. However, in comparison to Virginia, Smith’s silence is more complex- She is a Black woman playing in this White men’s world of politics. She does not want to lose her job, but she will do her best to defend her sistah within her limitations.
Although my initial reaction was to be angry that a Black woman took part of a group that demeaned Hill, I understood that she had to do her job. I understood the eye rolls when a White man said something outrageous about Anita Hill. I understood the side-eye in some of the scenes.
Smith’s character reveals to us the internalized struggle, unhappiness, dislike, and silence a Black woman can experience when her presence is ignored. None of the White and older men working with Smith stopped to ask about how she felt. No one asked her what her opinion was yet; in some scenes she voiced her opinions as best as she could. In my opinion, Smith was a very important character to hone in on.
“And from my standpoint, as a Black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.” and “He is trying to dismiss you, precisely, because you are a Black woman”-
These two quotes are apart of my top six most powerful and necessary scenes. They are powerful because they reveal that race and gender were put on display more than anything else. These hearings were a show for Clarence Thomas, and he knew which character role to play each and every time he opened his mouth. Thomas dismissed the fact that he was being accused of sexual harassment, and decided to talk about what was going to be the most effective- the use of race. It worked. However, what Thomas did not know was that race, and more were working for his good before he opened his mouth to say, “[This] is a high-tech lynching.”
Think about it: Who was going to believe a Black woman that expressed she was sexually harassed? Especially, when the accused perpetrator was also Black. Especially, when White and older men were judging her story. Before anyone could open his or her mouth to defend him or herself, Hill’s accusations were not believable because she did not look like Thomas’ White wife. I am a thousand percent sure Hill’s experience would have been different if she was a White woman who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual assault.
The very difficult truth is that: The White woman and her experiences are defended, while the Black woman and her experiences are dismissed, demeaned, and not noticeable.
Erotomania and Lesbianism- Major Side-eye…Really? At this point, this is what I imagine the White and older senators saying to Clarence Thomas, “Of course this is ruining your good Black male name! Why would we do that to you? Although we believe you like to rape and take advantage of women (specifically White women), we will feel sorry for you. We do not want to be racist Ms. Clarence Thomas.”
On the other hand, this is what I imagine the White and older senators saying to Anita Hill, “What did you say happened again? Can you repeat what you just said twice? I wasn’t really listening to you. You say he sexually assaulted you? Is that what you are saying? Oh, have you read the Exorcist? No? Well, you are obviously a lesbian and have erotic fantasies. You are delusional. Rape does not happen to Black women. Womanhood and respect does not belong to Black women. Therefore, we will do and say anything possible to ruin your reputation. We will make sure you go back into the hole of the south that you came from. Stay meek and quiet Black woman.”
“And being a Black woman you have to put up with a lot. So, you grit your teeth and you do it.”- This line, alone, made the real confirmation clear. While Thomas was able to grab some of the public’s attention and sympathy as he talked about the experience of being Black and a man, one of Anita Hill’s witnesses could not. When she mentioned the experience of being Black and a woman, no one seemed to care. In fact, Kennedy made a major speech that basically stated that race was not a factor after the witness stated this.
I really wonder why he made this speech after the witness mentioned being Black and a woman? Why did not Kennedy make a major speech after Clarence Thomas or directly to Thomas who used “I struggle being a Black and upper-class man” as defense? I am not sure if this was said in 1991, but I am so glad they kept the line in the movie. I was almost at the point of tears when I heard it.
For the first time, I was sitting at my dinner table watching an unapologetic film that focused so well on a Black female experience. Not only that, Confirmation brought you in (if you were willing to listen) to more than just the nomination hearings, it brought you into the conversations Black people had amongst themselves. This movie revealed the truth about how some Black men and women dealt with a Black woman who accused a Black man of sexual assault. Some people were supportive, and some people could not understand why Hill was trying to take away Thomas’ shine. As a Black Feminist, I live for movies like this!
Let us all remember that a Black woman named Anita Hill did this. She sat in front of a good amount of very White and older men, and told her truth. Even though Anita Hill did not obtain the justice she deserved, her experience makes my and many other Black women’s experiences real. I bow down to Anita Hill, and I thank her for having the courage to stand up when everything she believed had power over her said, “stay seated.”
