EDITORIAL ROUNDUP : The Thomas Nomination

President Bush’s nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court sparked widely varying reactions in the nation’s editorial pages. Here is a sampling, beginning with The New York Amsterdam News, one of America’s oldest black-owned newspapers:

A PAINFUL FOURTH OF JULY: His nomination has sent shouts of ecstasy through the white, conservative and often racist community. . . . For black leadership, it is an entirely different matter. The almost universal stance taken by heads of black organizations on such issues as a woman’s right to choose, affirmative action, quotas, goals, welfare rights and criminal justice reform fly in the face of what little is known about the positions of (Thomas). Black leadership finds itself having to mount a campaign against one who is the recipient of much of the opportunity that came from the pain of the struggle for freedom in America, led by them, but who now seems to have turned his back and closed the door for others of his race. It will not be a pleasant task for black leadership, and it will be thankless.

--The New York Amsterdam News

THOMAS MAY SURPRISE US: . . . Conservative glee may be premature. To have made the journey from shack without running water to Supreme Court nominee in 43 years has required an astonishing adaptability of Thomas--not to mention brains, courage, self-confidence and determination. That sets him apart from justices who have inherited their conservatism or received it by osmosis.

--The Winston-Salem Journal

THOMAS KNOWS CIVIL RIGHTS: . . . Those who question where Judge Thomas stands on civil rights actually come close to insulting him. He doesn’t have to be told how important it is that every man be judged by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. He’s lived it.

--The Savannah (Ga.) Morning News

NOT QUITE ANOTHER JUSTICE MARSHALL: The goal is not to elevate a Marshall clone to the high court, but to choose, in Mr. Bush’s words, “a fiercely independent thinker with an excellent legal mind, who believes passionately in equal opportunity for all Americans.” It’s up to Judge Thomas to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is a believer.

--The Hartford (Conn.) Courant

A NOMINEE WITH A MIND OF HIS OWN: Senators and interest groups would be unfair and ill-advised to suggest that (Thomas) is indifferent to racial justice. Bush could have found many nominees who could have counted on easier approval by the Senate. Thomas will probably require a harder fight, but there is reason to think he’s worth it.

--The Chicago Tribune

STRONG CHOICE: There will be an attempt . . . to cast him as an “Uncle Tom” who has adopted his conservative views from expediency, not conviction. . . . While some might take issue with (his) philosophy, any detractors will find it difficult to take issue with Judge Thomas’ legal abilities, his mental strength, his character or his judicial temperament.

--The Dallas Morning News