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He grew up in a South where Jim Crow laws were the rule. Outright, blatant, in-your-face, racism designating separate facilities for separate races. He matured in a system, riding the pony of equal opportunity. The outright, blatant nature of racism has changed over time to a silent, less obvious environment that allows the races to mix but enforces the unspoken rule that, "these types of people are this way, or those types of people are that way".
When Thomas finally rose triumphant above it all, he traded in his frayed pony for the sleek racehorse of "I'm a Black Republican and a symbol that anyone can make it by dint of their own efforts".
The truly frightful thing in all of this is that Thomas, due to his relative youth, may have another 30 years of making decisions which will impact the rest of society. Such is the legacy of Dubya's daddy. And Zorro, you are dead on. Clarence surely knew when to play the "this is racism and I'm a victim" card when it served his purposes.
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