Trevor Novak12/3/2014Research PaperClarence Thomas was a judge and a lawyer, and it was very difficult for him to become both. Clarence is still relevant today because he is one of the justices of the Supreme Court and is the second black justice to ever be elected a justice. Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948. He was not born in a hospital, but at home at middle age. wife. Clarence was only two years old when his father left him and divorced his mother, Leola Thomas. Leola was only eighteen when Clarence was born. When his father left, his mother took him, his older sister, and his younger brother from Pin Point, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. His mother sent him to his grandparents and that's why he likes his grandfather so much today. His grandfather taught him to work hard and create something of his own. “I put my grandfather up there so he could look down on me while I work.” (Source #4) Clarence has a bronze statue of his grandfather Myers Anderson in his office at the Supreme Court and the statue looks down on Clarence as he works at his desk to remind him to keep working hard. Clarence's grandfather also wanted him to become a priest. Clarence grew up in a community without paved roads or a sewer system. Once Clarence came home with a bloody face. His mother asked him what happened and he said some boys jumped on him and beat him while a teacher watched. Clarence attended St. Benedict's School in Savannah, which was a school for black boys and was run by Franciscan nuns. Clarence respected the sometimes harsh discipline of the priests and nuns because, he recalled, "It was a world of order, and that was exactly what we needed, because there was chaos all around us." (Source #4) He liked the nuns and the pr...... middle of paper ......larence Thomas would be involved in many cases such as the absence of prayers at high school graduations. In another case, the Court ruled that race could not be a factor in jury selection. The part of his job that Clarence enjoyed most was getting to talk to students, from juniors to college seniors. Clarence Thomas grew up in a very small town and came from a poor family and neighborhood. He learned early on from his grandfather that he would have to work hard to get somewhere in life and that things are never given to you. The hard work was reinforced by the nuns and in Savannah's Catholic schools where Clarence became a good student and athlete. He also worked hard to graduate from high school and become a lawyer. Later, he would apply everything he had learned to become the second black justice ever elected to the Supreme Court.