It was a transfixing moment in modern American history: a young law professor named Anita Hill coming forward to give testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about alleged acts of sexual harassment by the Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Hill was there to speak about the fitness of Thomas for a lifetime appointment on the court; instead, she became the target of character assassination by Republican senators and their allies and party, a smear campaign that remained intense for years and has never entirely ended. I remember watching Hill's testimony in my dormitory lounge at Tufts University that October day, 33 years ago, and thinking how brave she was under the klieg lights as senators tried to discredit her. What stood out most was how Republicans tried to destroy Hill rather than grapple with the fact that the guy on their side — who was up for a position of enormous power — might have done something terribly wrong. A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to Hill, now a professor and author at Brandeis University, to see if she would consider writing a guest essay for Times Opinion about the way that Kamala Harris has dealt with attacks on her dignity, such as Donald Trump questioning her race and intelligence. Hill replied that she wanted to make an argument about how traits like character and competence can be targets of attack and how a person has choices in how to respond to them — and can be an inspiration to others in doing so. In her guest essay, Hill draws a bit on her own experience with the Thomas hearings and its aftermath to look at how a concerted attack on a person's authenticity and qualifications can be repelled by grace, composure, intellect, poise and, especially, a strong sense of dignity. The different personal smears involving race and gender that Hill and Harris have faced — 33 years apart — raise questions for me about the kinds of people who make such attacks on someone's identity and humanity, and how elected officials in positions of power countenance it. "I can tell you with confidence that the various and sundry racist, misogynist and sexist insults hurled at Ms. Harris must sting," Hill writes, reflecting on her experience with the Senate hearings on Thomas. "What helped me stay composed was knowing that I was not the first woman to have her sanity, truthfulness and virtue falsely impugned. Even now, when I am attacked, my mother's firm but gentle admonition rings in my ears: 'You know who you are and what you can do.' Lesson learned: Never let the people who despise you define you." Here's what we're focusing on today:
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2024/10/28
Opinion Today: How Anita Hill sees the attacks on Kamala Harris
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Keep a civil tongue.