Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas referred to his longstanding admiration for black activist Louis Farrakhan in the text of two speeches eight years ago and quoted the Nation of Islam leader to end the remarks, the Dallas Times Herald reported Friday.
In a copyrighted story, the newspaper said it independently obtained copies of the two speeches and The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission later provided identical texts from files of speeches delivered by Thomas during his chairmanship of the agency.The remarks were identified on their cover pages as "Speech Given by Clarence Thomas" to the Capital Press Club, an association of black journalists, in Washington Sept, 19, 1983, and "Speech Given by Clarence Thomas" to the Association of Black MBAs on Oct. 6, 1983, in Atlanta, the Times Herald said.
Farrakhan, who succeeded Malcolm X as chief spokesman for the Nation of Islam in 1964, is known for his frequent attacks on the Jewish religion and the influence of American Jews on U.S. political policy. He is often portrayed as a racist demagogue, urging blacks to defy the white establishment and encouraging them to not salute the American flag.
In both speeches, Thomas described Farrakhan as "a man I have admired for more than a decade," the paper said.