Thomas says cultural war cows many

WASHINGTON -- Speaking to a large and generally conservative gathering, Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday night that the nation was engaged in a cultural war in which people who stood for their beliefs were often intimidated into silence.

"One cannot be cowed by criticism," Thomas said. He said that when, as a black public official in 1980, he first criticized programs like affirmative action and busing for school integration, he was "subjected to intimidation."

"Debate was not permitted," he said. "Orthodoxy was enforced."

Thomas spoke at the annual dinner of the American Enterprise Institute, a generally Republican policy organization based in Washington. Before a crowd of several hundred that was studded with newly confirmed Cabinet members and dozens of would-be lower officials, Thomas spoke as the recipient of the organization's Francis Boyer Award, which is given to a person who improves government policy and social welfare.

Thomas delivered a version of a speech that he has given before and that has as its principal theme the idea that courage is required to battle an intellectual orthodoxy imposed on people. Though he did not say so explicitly, the theme was distinctly autobiographical, as he has often been the object of withering criticism for his conservative views that are at odds with the views of most other black Americans.

He said that "today, no one can honestly be surprised by the venomous attacks" unleashed on anyone who disagreed with conventional wisdom.

Thomas has often been relatively reclusive, even for a member of the Supreme Court. But in a Washington more to his liking with Republicans in power, he seems to have suddenly become more of a presence. It was unclear whether that was his intention, but Tuesday night's speech was the latest of some recent events he was involved in that were tied closely to the news.

On Feb. 1, Thomas presided at the swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court for Attorney General John Ashcroft. And he was the first justice to speak publicly about the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling on Dec. 12, which resulted in George W. Bush being declared president.

Even though he did not speak at all during two court hearings that led to the decision to block the recounting of votes in Florida, Thomas was expansive in publicly addressing an issue that has been pressed by opponents of the ruling, namely that the court apparently had divided along political lines.

Only a day after the ruling, he told a group of high school students that the decision was completely removed from politics.

"I plead with you that whatever you do, don't try to apply the rules of the political world to this institution," he told the students.

The swearing-in of Ashcroft was a private ceremony, but to many, its political significance was there for all to see.

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