A few weeks ago, New York magazine ushered in Women’s History Month with a cover story on a man. “The Case for Impeaching Clarence Thomas,” by former New York Times editor Jill Abramson, opens with a fresh accusation against the Supreme Court justice. Moira Smith, a lawyer, says that Thomas groped her at a Washington dinner party in 1999.
The road from the Thomas hearings to #MeToo has been long. Yet for those who see the current moment as a watershed, it can be useful to revisit the storm surrounding his confirmation in 1991. Anita Hill’s testimony that he had sexually harassed her divided the country, arousing a fury that even now has not fully played itself out. Her 1997 account of the controversy, “Anita Hill: Speaking Truth to Power,” remains an important touchstone in the literature on harassment. Read more>>