Anita Hill Turns MLK Jr. Day Speech into #MeToo Speech

Anita Hill is famous for accusing then-Supreme Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual assault while she was working for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusations which nearly derailed Thomas’s nomination to the highest court in the land.

Now, as a professor at Brandeis University, she has opportunities to remind Americans of her allegations. She had recently penned an editorial during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings that referred to her own experience and in support of the unproven allegations against Kavanaugh, which were raised by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

Hill recently went to Elon University, which is a private university about an hour northwest of Raleigh, North Carolina, and turned a speech about Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights into a speech about sexual assault and the #MeToo movement. The #MeToo movement is an anti-sexual assault and anti-rape awareness campaign, mostly composed of women, and it has led to multiple public figures losing their jobs after allegations of sexual misconduct from years past.

In the speech, Hill said that “[Y]es, things have changed, but has enough changed? No.” She continued, “Sadly, whether verbal or psychological harassment or sexual assault, some leaders still fail to see sexual violence as a matter of public significance.” She added, “[T]hat’s what you saw in the Kavanaugh hearing: that politics were more important than the experience of women.” She railed against the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, which resulted in Kavanaugh’s confirmation along partisan lines to the Supreme Court, and said today’s government “replicates the mistakes of the past.” Hill reflected on the #MeToo movement and said that the movement has to “engage more men” and make a more meangingful impact.

Now, as a professor at Brandeis University, she has opportunities to remind Americans of her allegations. She had recently penned an editorial during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings that referred to her own experience and in support of the unproven allegations against Kavanaugh, which were raised by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Dr. Ford has not handed authorities evidence that would back her claims against Kavanaugh to this day.

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