My Grandfather's Son《Unexpected learning》

I was listening to my podcast one day on my way home. Usually it is the best time during my day on my way home. It is always relaxing as it is the end of one day. Most time it is after sunset and usually it is around 6:30pm so I can listen to NPR's Market Place to make up for what I missed for the whole day's Wall Street.

I guess it was either too early or too late to listen to NPR that day so I switched to my ipod. It was an interview a while ago with Clarence Thomas the only black judge in the Surpreme Court in the US the most tenured one in the Surpeme Court. (after that I read from the book that he was only around 45 when becoming the Judge). He is well respected with excellent background (Yale Law) flawless political history (Director of EEOC the famous Employment Equivalence of Commitee sth. like that the one that imposed the regulation on every single American company and never stops its fight against discrimination). His story is almost one of the best American dream. Grown up from the poorest deep South Savannah he had to work in his grandfather's garage when he was young. His family were illiterate. His brother and him were the first generation that has high education. He worked his way through to the top with the aspiration to change the perception of the black.

Knowing his story was not compelling enough for me to read his book it is too easy to become a Great Expectations type of story - even though that had been in my list for a while but his interview changed my mind. I was moved when the reporter asked him whether he viewed himself belonged to conservative and was he always trying to defend the black. His answer was so blank that I almost doubted that I was listening to a veteran in American politics (last night we were watching Rudy Giuliani's speech in Dartmouth he was anything but sincere. Just like the late KPMG CEO Gene O'Kelly he is a typical New Yorker and does not want to and cannot hide his shrewdness and coldness - no I am not arguing that it is not a good feature I am just trying to say it tells so much. He is by no means George Bush one can be recognized by the red decks or Bill Clinton one can pretend very warm and friendly). I am not particularly familiar with the American politics but I was really surprised by the answer: "well I am black and always black I cannot change that. (People make assumptions on what you should say based on what you look like). And I am supposed to have some opinions. No I do not do that. You do not create a box and then make generelization on people".

It was only after I listened to the podcast that I went back to read the book. It turned out to be one of the best ones that I ever read in the past five years.

I truely admire his courage and his commitment that he wanted to change the society (does that sound familiar? was that something that every one of us grew up and wanted to do) and to larget extent at least what he did made an impact. It is too hard to stick to one's dream and too easy that one can give up which I read his struggle a few times in the book but he made it. He is very different from another famous black Barack Obama who grew up in middle to up class (depite of his color) and his voice can be easily resonated even among the middle class and well-educated population. The book finished when Clarence became the Judge but it is not difficult to appreciate his sacrifice when chasing his dream including the sacrifice he made economically: even prior to he became a judge he still struggled to get his bills paid out every month. No wonder it is said that the job of a Senator only belongs to the rich and do not rely on the salary fromthe government to make a living. The most impressed part of his book of course has been the influence from his grandfather who insisted to live up to a high standard spiritially which consequently became a motto that Thomas always sticks to. The reason behind that is sad: it is too easy to classify people according to the color especially in a country so traditional such as America and the majority of the black are still the victims of discrimination themselves the sterotypes of blacks who are drug dealers gangsters beneficiaries of the social welfare. It is too easy to exaggerate any tiny error that Thomas may have on him just because of all the perception of black and the sterotypes belonged to that race.

I guess there were three reasons that made me especially resonated with this book:

1) as always an influential character in his own race while not being recgonized by his peers means something. Thomas is someone

2) I perfectly undertand what he talks about the misperception the implied discrimination although I feel fortunate that it is viewed that Chinese or Asian are intelligent (even a lot of people are not so).

3) finally grown up with the grandparents and I have an equally strict grandma it means a lot to me.