Anita Hill on Race, Equality and Opportunity

It was Oct. 11, 1991, when Anita Hill told the Senate Judiciary Committee that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Since then, she's been focusing on academic work as a professor of law and social policy at Brandeis University. But her experience in the national spotlight is anything but forgotten.This week, 20…

It was Oct. 11, 1991, when Anita Hill told the Senate Judiciary Committee that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Since then, she's been focusing on academic work as a professor of law and social policy at Brandeis University. But her experience in the national spotlight is anything but forgotten.

This week, 20 years after her history-making testimony, she talked to NPR about the letters she's received over the years; her new book, Reimagining Equality; and how she maintained her faith in the system that confirmed Justice Thomas. She also weighed in on how opportunities for African Americans have (and haven't) improved.

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Read a few highlights here:

On race and opportunity: I do think that just in general, people are comfortable with people who look like them or they believe think like them. And I think we have a lot to do in terms of really giving people full opportunity in employment, whether … you think of them as safe or not. I think full opportunity in employment just does not exist today in the way that maybe I thought it would have when I was growing up in the 1960s and '70s. I really thought some of these battles and some of these issues would have been resolved by now.

On her faith in the system: "I believe very much in our judiciary system. That is really why I testified to begin with, because [of] my belief in the integrity of the court and the individuals who sit … in final judgment of so many critical questions. And I know people are disappointed with individual cases that come up and decisions that are made today … But I also remind myself that this is a court that is evolving and continues to evolve … "Β 

On the correspondence she receives: "They're a surprising array of messages. And they vary depending on whether they're men or women, young or old. I hear from people who say, 'I was a child during the hearings, and I didn't quite understand exactly what was going on. But 20 years later, now I understand why the hearing was important and why your testimony was important."

Read more at NPR.

In other news: Cain Leads GOP Pack.

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