Justice Under Attack For Conservative Stand

Black activists protesting Clarence Thomas’ conservative Supreme Court record and votes against affirmative action plan a prayer vigil today outside his suburban Virginia home.

Protest organizers said Monday that Thomas owes his success to the programs he now seems intent on outlawing.

“In the heat of Mr. Thomas’ Senate hearings, he pulled the ‘race card’ by accusing the Senate of a high-tech lynching,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said at a news conference. “When it was convenient to use race, he used it.”

Thomas has angered many blacks and liberals by siding with conservatives and voting against traditional civil-rights positions on affirmative action, school desegregation and voting rights.