Prestige Play? The Controversy Behind Clarence Thomas’s New UT Austin Course

You're watching the Isaiah Factor Uncensored. And welcome back to the Factor Uncensored. He's coming to town. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and a lot of people aren't easy about it. And when I say town, we're talking about UT's campus, Austin. And he will be spending a week there, the month of February, Black History Month. With a course that focuses on Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass and many more. So many people are concerned what this course is all about and should they protest. We had a chance to sit down with the head of the NAACP right here in Houston. And joining us now here on The Factor Uncensored, we have Bishop James Dixon, who is the president of the Houston branch of the NAACP. First of all, Bishop Dixon, happy birthday to you. Thank you for taking time out to talk to us about this important topic on your birthday, sir. Thank you so very much. I'm just grateful to be here and grateful Everyone that has shaped me, including my alma mater, TSU. There you go, we see you wearing the t-shirt there or the hoodie there for TSU. So Bishop, when we hear that US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is coming to Texas, specifically UT, in the spring to teach a course based on civil rights, what are your thoughts about that with this history and what we know about Justice Thomas? Well, first of all, thank you for having me, Isaiah. This is a very intriguing, interesting development. The fact that, of course, Justice Thomas got the way he is on affirmative action, right? But then he opposes DEI. And every policy that the civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, advocated for, he has advocated and decided against. His track record on the Supreme Court, Makes him antithetical to the values and principles and vision of the civil rights movement, which makes it oxymoronic for him to be lecturing and teaching and instructing students as it relates to what civil rights and the movement of justice is all about in America. And when you consider him in a classroom with young minds, would you consider it, dare I say it, dangerous? Well, particularly dangerous, of course, because, so let's remember, Justice Thomas is of the same political persuasion and of the movement that produces a Charlie Clark, whose position is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a fluke, a fake, and the civil rights movement was unnecessary and a fluke. Look, that troubles me, because if that mindset, that ideology gets passed down into the hearts and minds of young students- It could absolutely poison their perspectives on the real moral values of the civil rights movement. I think that's what's at stake. He is not qualified to speak on the subject from a pro civil rights, pro social justice perspective. And so I'm curious, see, is he positioned to argue against it? His colleague, Charlie Clark, called it an absolute mistake in American history. And I'm wondering, and I've not heard, but I'm wondering if Justice Thomas is going to come down on that same line, or if he's gonna have the courage to say, Dr. King was right and we have it wrong. Because so far, his opinion is written on the court. Are contrary and antithetical to the values and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King and all the civil rights and social justice leaders of that time. We've seen many of his opinions, many of his writings and his perspective on life. Have you ever sat down and maybe just tried to find some reasoning behind it? And what motivates him and could there be some logic that we're all missing? I think perhaps it makes sense to him. I don't know who else it would make sense to other than himself and the people who embrace the spirit of that ideology. It's like darkness now speaking for light. I don't understand it in my own Christian perspective. It'd be like me going to Satan says, tell us what you think about the righteousness of God. I mean, it's that far fetched, right? So I'm concerned about what the angle is for UT Having him to come and lecture, and who's gonna be in that audience? I would love to see if they're willing to invite others from the outside of the UT family to sit in on those lectures to be a part of the conversation. That dialogue would be more than interesting, of course. Now, you know many people in the Austin area. Is there any outrage about this? And are there any protests or demonstrations planned as a result of him being invited for this week long course on civil rights? I can tell you this talk gives indigestion to true social justice and civil rights leaders and advocates. Because we recognize. That sometimes there are institutions who would give this kind of opportunity to the wrong figures in order to create a false narrative and an uninformed or a manipulative perspective on the truth. And so I cannot speak as to whether that would be protest or not, but I can tell you there There is righteous disturbance and indignation and rightfully so. If you team wants to have a forum on social justice for a week and civil rights during Black History Month, there are a lot more choices who are a lot more credible and a lot more believable than it would be Justice Clarence Thomas. That suggests to me that they're not I'm not interested in. The narrative and the prophetic vision and voice of those who carry the tradition of Fannie Lou Hamer, the tradition of Maggie Evans, the tradition of Martin King, the tradition of John Lewis. This now is antithetical to that tradition, which means that it's antithetical to the truth of social justice and civil rights. All righty, and that will occur in February of 2027 at UT.