News and Commentary

Amazon Snubs Clarence Thomas During Black History Month

   DailyWire.com
Breitbart News: Thursday Recently, Amazon Prime dropped Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words, an acclaimed and popular PBS documentary on Justice Clarence Thomas, making it unavailable to stream during Black History Month.  Thomas is our nation’s only black justice currently serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, and one would think that between Amazon’s claim to “building an inclusive culture” and the fact that it’s Black History Month, Amazon would want to stream this inspiring documentary on its platform. Amazon showed it has its limits when it comes to its dedication to diversity and inclusion when it failed to continue streaming a critically acclaimed and popular documentary on the only black Supreme Court justice during Black History Month. Mark Paoletta served as a lawyer in the Bush 41 White House Counsel’s Office and worked on the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas.  He served as General Counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget in the Trump Administration, and worked on the confirmations of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.  He is a Senior Fellow at The Center for American Restoration. In fact, Amazon Prime created an entire Amplify Black Voices page on its site that “feature[s] a curated collection of titles to honor Black History Month across four weekly themes (Black Love, Black Joy, Black History Makers, and Black Girl Magic).”  There are scores of films available to stream, including four films available on the Amazon Prime site to stream (two docudramas and two documentaries) on Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, a liberal icon and our nation’s first black Supreme Court justice.  There are even two films (one docudrama and one documentary) on Anita Hill, who came forward during Thomas’ confirmation hearing to claim that Thomas had sexually harassed her.  (Hill’s story never added up and, and as reflected in a NY Times/CBS News poll after the Senate confirmation hearings, American men and women believed Thomas by a 2-1 margin.) Amazon has made a significant effort to celebrate black voices on its site during Black History Month, including films of Thurgood Marshall and even Anita Hill, but can’t find any space for a documentary on our only sitting black Supreme Court justice? This makes no sense at all, other than Amazon made a decision to not show this film because Justice Thomas is a black justice who has conservative views. The Created Equal DVD is still available for purchase on Amazon, and it is in fact number 38 of all documentaries on that site.  In contrast, the RBG documentary on liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is not even in the top 100 but is still streaming on Amazon Prime. https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2021/02/25/paoletta-amazon-prime-cancels-justice-clarence-thomas-documentary-during-black-history-month/ Daily Wire reported this week: In a school-wide email, a Virginia high school student was attacked for choosing “racist” Candace Owens as a “Black Trailblazer” for her Black History Month presentation. Julia Saville was a junior at St. Margaret’s High School in Tappahannock, Virginia. St. Margaret’s is a small school with approximately 107 students in the 8-12th grades. Saville is a chapter leader for Turning Point USA and joined her school’s Black Student Union to diversify her understanding of cultural issues, particularly in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I know that they have a different perspective on things,” Saville told The Daily Wire. “I just wanted to get their perspective and [understand] their experiences on campus.” The Black Student Union assigned its members to present on “black trailblazers” that have contributed to the black community in honor of Black History Month. The presentations were sent out to the school in honor of black accomplishments. For her part, Saville chose Candace Owens. On Wednesday, Feb. 17, Saville was scheduled to present on her chosen black trailblazer. When she awoke that morning, she received an email from a classmate condemning Saville for choosing Owens as a “black trailblazer.” The email was sent out to all staff and students at the school. https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-wide-email-condemns-student-for-calling-racist-candace-owens-a-black-trailblazer Related: ‘Citizens Deserve Better’: Justice Clarence Thomas Dissents In PA Election Case The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.
James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images

Amazon Prime is not streaming a popular documentary about the only current black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, during Black History Month.

The omission is especially glaring as the move to drop “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words” comes during Black History Month despite Amazon carving out an entire section celebrating “Black Voices” during February.

“Recently, Amazon Prime dropped Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words, an acclaimed and popular PBS documentary on Justice Clarence Thomas, making it unavailable to stream during Black History Month,” Breitbart reported. “Thomas is our nation’s only black justice currently serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, and one would think that between Amazon’s claim to ‘building an inclusive culture’ and the fact that it’s Black History Month, Amazon would want to stream this inspiring documentary on its platform.”

Mark Paoletta, who served as a lawyer in the Bush 41 White House Counsel’s Office and helped to confirm Justice Thomas to the bench, wrote an opinion piece at Breitbart highlighting Amazon’s alleged anti-conservative bias.

The company “showed it has its limits when it comes to its dedication to diversity and inclusion” by booting the documentary, he argued.

“In fact, Amazon Prime created an entire Amplify Black Voices page on its site that ‘feature[s] a curated collection of titles to honor Black History Month across four weekly themes (Black Love, Black Joy, Black History Makers, and Black Girl Magic),'” highlighted Paoletta.

“Amazon has made a significant effort to celebrate black voices on its site during Black History Month, including films of Thurgood Marshall and even Anita Hill, but can’t find any space for a documentary on our only sitting black Supreme Court justice?” he pointedly questioned. “This makes no sense at all, other than Amazon made a decision to not show this film because Justice Thomas is a black justice who has conservative views.”

Paolette notes that Amazon “has been taking down long-running documentaries from its site with little or no warning, and apparently it is almost impossible to receive a response as to why a documentary was taken down.”

“[T]here may be some so-called liberal documentaries that have been taken down during this period,” he notes, however, “it is very strange that Amazon could not find space on its website to stream a documentary on our longest-serving black Supreme Court justice in American history that ran on PBS in a national broadcast (no small feat) and is a top-selling DVD in its documentary section, while less popular documentaries on Justice Marshall are still streaming.”

As noted by The Federalist, Amazon has “escalated its censorship of political dissidents.” Earlier this month, the outlet highlighted, Amazon deplatformed conservative Ryan Anderson’s book critical of gender theory, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement.”

The Daily Wire reported earlier this week that a Virginia high school student was publicly attacked for choosing conservative commentator, BLEXIT founder, and author Candace Owens has her “Black Trailblazer” for her Black History Month presentation.

“The Black Student Union assigned its members to present on ‘black trailblazers’ that have contributed to the black community in honor of Black History Month. The presentations were sent out to the school in honor of black accomplishments. For her part, Julia Saville chose Candace Owens,” The Daily Wire reported. “On Wednesday, Feb. 17, Saville was scheduled to present on her chosen black trailblazer. When she awoke that morning, she received an email from a classmate condemning Saville for choosing Owens as a ‘black trailblazer.’ The email was sent out to all staff and students at the school.”

Related: ‘Citizens Deserve Better’: Justice Clarence Thomas Dissents In PA Election Case

Create a free account to join the conversation!

Already have an account?

Log in

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
Download Daily Wire Plus

Don't miss anything

Download our App

Stay up-to-date on the latest
news, podcasts, and more.

Download on the app storeGet it on Google Play
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  Amazon Snubs Clarence Thomas During Black History Month