The American dream in black & white
Subtitle: the Clarence Thomas hearings
By: Jane Flax.
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Ithaca, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 170
Subjects: Thomas, Clarence, 1948-; United States. Supreme Court -- Officials and employees -- Selection and appointment.; Judges -- Selection and appointment -- United States.
Other titles: American dream in black and white
Description: The transcripts of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Clarence Thomas are extraordinarily rich and suggestive. Much has been written about the hearings, but until now no one has paid close attention to the actual language of the participants. Revisiting the words of Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, Jane Flax asks what we would learn about American politics if these hearings were, literally, our only text. How does our legal and judicial system operate in the face of sexual issues?

Can it ever transcend race and gender? Who was the real victim in these hearings - Hill, Thomas, the Senate, or the viewing public? Who in America has the power to make political meaning? Rather than attempting to establish fact or truth, The American Dream in Black and White looks at the political narrative by which our nation makes sense of itself.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-155) and index.