HBO released “Confirmation” one year ago Sunday. The show is the political biopic and thriller based on Anita Hill’s testimony against Clarence Thomas before the Senate Judiciary Committee in late 1991.
Between now and the TV film’s release, a man with a questionable history of sexual assault and perverse attitudes toward women and sex was elected to the presidency.
Although Hill’s testimony captivated millions of Americans and sparked political ambition in women across the country to change responses to sexual harassment, the pain of her hearing still rings true.
Upon former Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall’s retirement, then-federal Circuit Judge Clarence Thomas was next in line for the high court.
Thomas was Hill’s supervisor at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the place in charge of logging sexual harassment claims, ironically enough. During Thomas’ confirmation, Hill testified against him before the Senate Judiciary Committee by recounting the incessant and grotesque sexual harassment she endured by her supervisor.
The committee didn’t attempt to take Hill seriously.
The former high school valedictorian, Oklahoma State University honors graduate and Yale Law School graduate was branded as careless, misguided and asking for it. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by a young Joe Biden, were condemning at worst and apathetic at best.
Upon the release of “Confirmation,” Hill spoke with Rolling Stone magazine in an April 2016 recounting her experiences before the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I like to remind people that I was subpoenaed to testify, and when I answered the subpoena and I made myself available, I was treated horribly by the process,” Hill said in the interview. “I think that should be the lesson, if the issue is sexual harassment or any number of issues that can be brought to your government and representatives. Citizens should have the right and should be able to exercise their obligation to provide information to processes, and they should be treated with respect and decency.”
The televised event was a rude awakening for American women on the insurmountable obstacles to have sexual harassment obligations taken seriously without judgment.
At the time of Hill’s testimony, public opinion polls indicated a wide majority of Americans sided with Thomas.
Years of Hill recounting her story, political commentary and Republican operatives such as David Brock apologizing for misinforming the public about the situation finally led to the general public seeing the bigger picture.
“It would have been more comfortable to remain silent,” she said during her testimony. “But when I was asked by a representative of this committee to report my experience, I felt that I had to tell the truth. I could not keep silent.”
Hill’s brave testimony and commentary since the event have given women in the workplace a fighting chance against institutional harassment and indifferent bystanders.
There are many lessons to learn from her story — if only we would heed them.
jsbourkl@umail.iu.edu
