George Takei calls Justice Thomas ‘a clown in blackface’
Star Trek actor George Takei went on a scathing rant about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Justice Thomas was one of the dissenting Justices on the recent ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.
In an interview with Fox Pheonix Takei, known for his popular social media presence, called Justice Thomas: “a clown in blackface sitting on the the Supreme Court.”
He went on: “He doesn’t belong there. For him to say that slaves have dignity – doesn’t he know that slaves were in chains?
“They were whipped, they were raped – and he says they had dignity as slaves.”
In his dissent on the same-sex marriage ruling, Justice Thomas said: “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.”
Takei and his family were held in an internment camp during the Second World War due to being Japanese-American.
In the interview, he said: “My parents lost everything that they worked for in the middle of their lives, in their 30s – my father’s business, our home, our freedom.
“We’re supposed to call that dignified? Marching out of our homes at gunpoint? We’re supposed to call that dignified?”
Takei has come under fire for his use of the words “clown in blackface”. Some argued it was racist, as Justice Thomas is African-American.
In a Facebook post, Takei argued that his intent was not racist.
He said: “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.”
It has been noted that Justice Thomas disagreed with same-sex marriage despite the fact his own marriage would once upon a time have been illegal.
