Lack of sympathy for civil rights in Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is not sympathetic to civil rights, Simkins believes, part of a retrenchment started by Ronald Reagan.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with George Simkins, April 6, 1997. Interview R-0018. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- GEORGE SIMKINS:
-
And you've got a Supreme Court that's not
sympathetic at all with integration. You've got a black man
on there, Clarence Thomas, that has ruled any time a black issue comes
up, he's ruled against blacks. For example, they had this
prisoner who was handcuffed, shackled, and the sheriff was beating him
and beating him. The man sued and said it was undue force. The majority
of the Supreme Court agreed that it was undue force. Clarence Thomas
said no, it was not undue force. You really don't have a
chance now. I think Reagan moved in when he was president, and started
things going in reverse.