Presumptions of Inferiority

I don't often disagree with what is posted over at TalkLeft, but this post on the AA decisions has stirred up an argument, and I'm on the other side. The focus is on the update to the original post:

Update: Clarence Thomas voted against affirmative action.

Well... so what? As I said in the comments, is anyone surprised at his vote? He has been opposed to AA since the day he got on the court... I certainly don't see how his vote merits individual mention, nor a specific update, unless it is to discuss some particular aspect unique to his opinions.

Several other commenters responded that since Thomas benefitted from affirmative action, it is hypocritical for him to oppose it now.

Well unless y'all know something about Clarence Thomas that I don't know, that just seems ill-informed. I've found nothing to suggest that Justice Thomas' grades and test scores weren't good enough to gain entrance to Yale without the help of affirmative action. Assuming otherwise puts exactly the stigma on Justice Thomas that he decries in his opinions against affirmative action (and now we see he does it with good reason and personal experience). Assuming that just because someone is black he benefitted from affirmative action is not only wrong, but condescending, paternalistic, and guaranteed to perpetuate, not alleviate the racial stereotypes in this country.

UPDATE: TalkLeft says that the link was just a part of the larger story, and I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Those commenting to her post, however, continue to repeatedly allege that Thomas benefited from AA without giving any evidence of it. Until they do, I'm going to consider this the paternalistic racism that Thomas so strongly opposes, and I'm going to give newfound credit to his thesis.

UPDATE II: I did find evidence that Thomas benefited from AA, from a 7/14/91 article in the Orlando Sentinel. Though the article doesn't make clear that Thomas himself was a beneficiary of the program, it seems to be implied. It also mentions that Thomas seems to have admitted as much himself:

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas was admitted to Yale Law School under an affirmative action plan to boost minorities to about 10 percent of the freshman class, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Yale affirmative action program was adopted in 1971, the year Thomas applied for entrance, The New York Times said.

School officials told the newspaper blacks and some Hispanic applicants were evaluated differently than whites.

They were not admitted, however, unless they met standards to predict they could succeed at the highly competitive school, the Times said.

"We did adopt an affirmative action program and it was pretty clearly stated," said Professor Abraham S. Goldstein, dean of the law school from 1970 to 1975.

Goldstein said the school used a set of minimum standards based on college grades and test scores.

Thomas frequently has criticized affirmative action policies and advocated a colorblind society. However, he has also acknowledged that affirmative action helped him.

In a 1987 panel discussion at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, Calif., Thomas said "ultimately, any race-conscious remedy is no good."

But while chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1983, he said affirmative action laws were of "paramount importance" to him.