Virginia Thomas Cancels Radio Show Amid Controversy Over Her Call to Anita Hill

Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, abruptly canceled a radio appearance on NPR today amid a swirl of media attention given to news of her recent effort to encourage Anita Hill to apologize for her allegations of sexual harassment against the justice 19 years ago.

The show On Point, produced by WBUR radio in Boston, announced that Virginia Thomas canceled a long-schedued appearance in which she was to talk about her advocacy group Liberty Central and her relationship to the Tea Party movement. She cited a "schedule conflict" according to the this report on a WBUR blog.

She had been receiving more and more attention because of ethical questions that have been raised about the possibility that her husband might rule on cases involving unnamed donors to her organization. But when news broke of her call to Anita Hill, triggering memories of the intense confirmation battle Thomas faced because of Hill's allegations, the story snowballed in the way that stories in Washington sometimes do.

The initial ABC News report confirmed that Thomas had made the call, which Hill reported to campus police. Hill said she would not apologize -- and had nothing to apologize for. Here is the text of Virginia Thomas' voicemail message, which was placed early on Oct. 9, a Saturday, to Hill's office at Brandeis University:

"Good morning, Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day."

ABC also noted that in a 2007 interview in connection with publication of Thomas's memoir My Grandfather's Son, Virginia Thomas had voiced similar hopes that someday Hill would apologize.

Today Ken Foskett, author of a 2004 biography of Thomas, recalled during his research for the book, she was telling him the same thing. "In my interviews with Ginni, she said she hoped that Hill would find it in her heart to make amends some day, and that she (Ginni) had often thought of calling her to talk woman-to-woman. I guess she thought it was time to make that call."

Comments

[Sidney Gendin]

It is nice for a wife to believe in her husband's innocence but extremely odd for her to think that her husband's accuser also believes he is innocent. Without that presumption, the request for an apology makes no sense.

[Thomas R Arnold]

There is plenty of corroboration that harrassment of women workers and love of pornography were two defining parts of Clarence Thomas' personality. Thomas owes Anita Hill an apology. Anita Hill owes Thomas nothing.

[Regular Joe]

If this Mrs. Thomas did make the call, she clearly cannot release this ugly incident to the past. Miss. Hill was correct in her actions and I don't think anyone else, in a similar situation, would have handled it differently. I also would like to know what Justice Thomas thinks about the whole incident. 19 years is a long time to hold onto such a grudge. Although the hearings were nasty, Mr. thomas was still confirmed. What has he lost? I, like many people, had forgotten about it until now.

[A staff attorney]

It is very complicated to be the spouse of a public figure. On the other hand, Mrs. Thomas should not be surprised after being in that position for so long that her inexplicable, tone deaf words were received with skepticism (was this another dangerous crank?) and a turndown.
I question her judgment in initiating this when and as she did, but also worry that Beltway insiders and politicos will pile on to her way beyond proportion to that lapse in judgment.

[Kay Sieverding]

I can definitely understand the Thomas's wanting to clear their names if they think there were unjust accusations. I was unjustly accused and deprived of a hearing and it still really bothers me and really affects me. The idea that with time someone can get away with an unjust accusation is B.S. Lots of people pursue reversals of convictions and military wrongful conduct discharges years later and sometimes their relatives do so after their death.

[kp]

Keeping this a private matter is exactly what V. Thomas wanted A. Hill to do. Thomas wanted Hill to play the ashamed victim again and keep it quiet.

[Patrick]

Why did Virginia Thomas make the call? Just a guess, but maybe she gets tired of hearing poor Clarence obsessively ruminate about it. It's pretty clear that HE has not forgotten or forgiven.

[Walt]

Clarence Thomas is the one who owes an apology to Dr. Hill.

[Dan McCauley]

Sad to say that this is another case of a conservative person getting away with actions that would be condemned as irresponsible if someone of a moderate to liberal political leaning did it. Need anyone be reminded that Republican men who have had affairs are still serving as governor in South Carolina and in the U.S. Senate, and one is pulling down his government pension after being caught soliciting something from a man in a men's room. It's all disgusting.

[Mary Whitehorne]

Everyone knows Anita Hill told the truth.

[Harry Lime]

I also heard that the campus police then forwarded the message to the FBI. I wonder how Justice Thomas feels about all this.

[Sandy Southerland]

Why on earth would Virginia Thomas bring up such an ugly matter. SHE is the one having a breakdown. Ms. Hill has moved on with her life...why can't Virginia Thomas???

[Vannie Ryanes]

Keep it a private matter? I suspect that is what Mrs. Thomas was hoping Miss. Hill would do. As an long time attorney (and a woman) Hill recognized that the best thing to do was to tell the authorities immediately. This is the same thing we teach our children about bullies and others who would harm them. Tell, tell, tell. Something of this nature should never be kept quiet.

[Eady Morgan]

Wow! The transcript sound as if Mrs. Thomas was having some sort of mental break down. You would have to be nuts to open that ugly door again.

[Bill Black]

Hill reported the call to the campus police because she did not believe the call had actually come from Ms Thomas, but that it was a prank.

[caldeira]

Hill called campus police, I thought, to check the call for authenticity. If Mrs. Thomas wanted to talk with Hill on the phone, why call at 7.30 a.m. to a faculty office where, obviously, Hill would not be present. If she didn't want to talk to her, why not write a letter. The other question is why Hill would make the call public in the first place? This is a very peculiar trio of people.

[bob]

She thought it was a prank, which it very well could have been, so she reported it.

[moe99]

Anita Hill has suffered a slew of nasty calls over the past 19 years as a result of her subpoenaed testimony in the Thomas' confirmation hearings. I can certainly see Prof. Hill being concerned about someone using Ms. Thomas' name and stalking her.

[Tim Tessin]

According to earlier news reports, Hill reported the call to campus police because she thought it was a hoax.

[Duane Moore]

Both Justice Thomas and Clarence Ginni Thomas are public figures. Anita Hill is entiled to furnish this information, which she could have rightly interpreted to be harassment,to campus police and the police rightly runed it over to the FBI since it concerns a sitting federal judge's spouse and came in over the wires. Prof. Hill had no obligation to keep this a "private matter;" Ginni Thomas should have just kept he mouth shut and minded her own business.

[John]

Ginni and Mel Gibson should share notes about leaving recorded messages. What arrogance.

[Susan Cook]

It is obvious that all three people involved (Hill, C. Thomas and V. Thomas) have firmly held opinions and strong feelings about the whole "affair". Why, oh why, did Ms. Thomas choose to put herself in the limelight in this most unflattering and inflammatory manner? Could it be a red herring?

[Wayne White]

Reported it to the campus police? Come on....a bit childish, no? Why not just keep it a private matter, call Mrs. Thomas back, say what she had to say and leave it at that?