Anita Hill on Race, Gender, and Home

The Takeaway

In 1991, Anita Hill went from being an obscure law school professor to the subject of a national controversy. As Clarence Thomas was nominated to be a justice on the Supreme Court, Hill came forward with accusations that Thomas sexually harassed her when she worked with him at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hill’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee vaulted sexual harassment into the national dialogue, forever changing the way Americans talk about the topic. In the 20 years since the Thomas hearings, Hill has mostly kept a low public profile, returning to teach at Brandeis University, where she focuses on the law, social policy, and women’s studies.  Professor Hill has written two books. Her first was “Speaking Truth to Power.” This fall, she came out with her second, “Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home.”

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