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What Makes a Black Sellout?

New book defends Clarence Thomas, complicates race debate: Salon

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 21, 2008 8:59 PM CST

(Newser) – A black intellectual's new book, Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal, goes easy on Clarence Thomas for dissing the very affirmative action that helped him succeed, Salon's James Hannaham writes. Does that make Sellout author Randall Kennedy a sellout? Maybe Kennedy is able to do what free-thinking blacks must: "separate what we think from what our comrades of color expect us to believe,” Hannaham writes.

Kennedy absolves Thomas, arguing that he doesn't purposely hurting black causes and has a right to an opinion. Kennedy may disagree with him, but lets the Supreme Court justice “squeak under the gate,” Hannaham writes. Ultimately, Sellout complicates the question of race betrayal by drawing a line between what Hannaham calls “dissent and disloyalty.”

Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas speaks at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., in this Sept. 10, 2007, file photo. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder, File)
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas speaks at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., in this Sept. 10, 2007, file photo. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder, File)   (Associated Press)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas addresses the Federalist Society in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007, where he spoke about his new book and took questions from the audience. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas addresses the Federalist Society in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007, where he spoke about his new book and took questions from the audience. (AP Photo/Charles...   (Associated Press)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government regarding the Supreme Court's 2008 fiscal budget request on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., in this  March 8, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government regarding the Supreme Court's 2008 fiscal budget request on Capitol...   (Associated Press)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas pauses during his speech to members of the Savannah, Ga., Bar in this May 11, 2001 photo. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas pauses during his speech to members of the Savannah, Ga., Bar in this May 11, 2001 photo. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)   (Associated Press)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, left, signs a copy of his book, after addressing the Federalist Society in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, left, signs a copy of his book, after addressing the Federalist Society in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)   (Associated Press)
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is photographed at the Supreme Court in Washington March 3, 2006. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is photographed at the Supreme Court in Washington March 3, 2006. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (Associated Press)
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