Sure, but the nuance is what (I think) makes it interesting. If the book is correct, he believes America, and white people, are incurably racist, and that informs all of his decisions.
This sounds odd, coming from a black SCOTUS justice, but he believes the American political system (and most other powerful institutions) exclude black people by design, and prevent them from building real political power.
But he posits that economic power, in the form of wealth, is something that black people can obtain and use to protect themselves from the incurable, all-pervading American racism that he despises the absolute shit out of.
And that also sounds weird, given who his friends are, but he says he prefers conservatives because at least they're honest about who they are. He found liberals sanctimonious, condescending, and just as bigoted as anyone else, no matter how much they might insist otherwise, all while insisting you recognize and praise their moral superiority.
I am not trying to justify Justice Thomas's beliefs or actions, I wish he'd done nearly anything else with his life. He sucks, but he's a more complex and fascinating swine-humper than I'd first thought.
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u/Petrochromis722 4d ago
Spoiler alert: Its greed.