Melissa Harris-Perry Defends Clarence Thomas Comments: I Didn’t ‘Question The Authenticity Of His Blackness’

After receiving much criticism for defending President Obama‘s white, male cabinet by saying that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas doesn’t hold views that are representative of “the vast majority” of African-Americans, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry attempted to clarify her comments via Twitter Friday, saying, “To be clear, I did *not* say Justice Clarence Thomas is not *really* black nor did I question the authenticity of his blackness in any way.”

Originally, Harris-Perry had stated we should be “careful” because “no one wants to assume that any given physical body carries with it a set of political ideas.”

Over the course of several Tweets, Harris-Perry suggested that those interested in “something other than inaccurate soundbites” read her book. She clarified that in her book, she “argued Thomas & other black conservatives are part of a long tradition within black communities.” She also noted that what she was trying to express was that “sharing racial or gender identity with someone is *not* the same thing as sharing political interests.”

“My criticisms of Thomas are not because he is inauthentic as a black man. That is silly. Who would even judge such a thing,” she added.

Watch the original clip below, via MSNBC:

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