Is Van Jones a Much More Tragic Figure Than Clarence Thomas?

Yes or no?

Image via The Onion on X

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is one of those works of literature which has stood the test of time.

The relevancy of its cast of characters in our day and age really shouldn’t be a conversation that we are having and yet it remains stubbornly etched on our consciousness.

There was the supremely intelligent yet tragic George Harris whose wife — Eliza — had to make an incredibly difficult decision as to whether or not to stay with their impecunious slave holder, who was desperate to sell her off to another slaver and there was also Uncle Tom who was enslaved to his Christian faith till the very end.

At a time when African-Americans are under siege, there are those who feel compelled to stick to the master’s narrative, even if it comes at the cost of undermining the entire community.

Enter Clarence Thomas.

Thurgood Marshall’s successor to the supreme court didn’t have the most auspicious start to life and this was exacerbated by his crippling lack of confidence which stemmed from growing up speaking Gullah-Geechee — a language from the descendants of West African slaves.

His taciturnity wasn’t impedimental to getting a law degree from Yale University or to any of the…