In 1991 America bore witness to arguably the most spectacular modern confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice. Law professor Anita Hill was dragged from relative obscurity to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee as it considered President George H. W. Bush’s nominee, Clarence Thomas. Facing probing and often explicit questions, Hill testified that she was repeatedly the subject of unwanted sexual advances by Thomas during years of working with him in government positions.
Thomas, an African-American man, had been nominated to succeed Thurgood Marshall, the court’s first Black justice. Hill, a Black woman, was accused by many of being a race traitor for speaking forthrightly about her experiences of harassment. Many wondered what she had done to provoke or encourage the behavior. And Thomas denied Hill’s allegations and angrily referred to the process of withering and embarrassing questioning by the all-White, male Senate Judiciary Committee as a “high-tech lynching.” After three days of inquiry, Thomas was confirmed to the court by the narrowest margin in a century.
Watch Kerry Washington Transform Into Anita Hill in First 'Confirmation' Trailer
On April 16 HBO will return to those stunning three days that altered the course of American political history with the premiere of Confirmation starring Kerry Washington as Hill and Wendell Pierce as Thomas. Ahead of the film’s debut, ESSENCE caught up with Hill, 59, near her office at Brandeis University to talk about her journey since the controversial hearings.
MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY: What do you think of Kerry Washington’s performance in the film?
ANITA HILL: I loved her dignity and emotion. She appeared a lot more dignified than I felt during that moment, but she still lost nothing in terms of how painful the experience was. That is hard to convey, but she did it beautifully.
HARRIS-PERRY: What is next for Anita Hill?
HILL: It feels good to be back in the classroom after a three-year break, but I am ready for a more public -presence. I am not certain what that will look like but I know I want to write and speak and teach. I want to be sure that we are thinking fairness and -inclusion in our universities as we approach the fiftieth -anniversary of Title IX in 2022. We’ve made great advances in the areas of women’s sports, and we’re beginning to put into place processes for eliminating sexual harassment and assault in higher education. However, Title IX -addresses more than sports and sexual assault. It is also supposed to eliminate barriers to full participation in all aspects of education, including universities as places where women come to learn and where women go to work. I’m working on a project that aims to increase awareness of how this law can improve the experiences for all girls and women—especially girls and women of color. I will also propose new strategies and plans for increasing parity and inclusion in education.
HARRIS-PERRY: You said that your mother did not prepare you for the world as it was, she -prepared you for the world that was coming into being. If you could imagine any world for Black girls 25 years from now, what would it look like?
HILL: I imagine African-American girls with a view of a life that -completely disregards all the people who say you can’t be what you want to be in this world. A world where confident young women don’t carry the baggage of those who say, “No, you don’t get this.” But that’s only half the story. The other part I imagine is a world where these girls walk into a room and everyone agrees with them that they can have whatever they want and are willing to work hard to get. That’s what the entire world would look like.
Melissa Harris-Perry is an ESSENCE contributor and the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University, where she’s also director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center.
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