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| Sharon Bialek and Atty. Gloria Allred |
Four women have accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment but this is the first one to show her face publicly since Politico broke the story in October.
And her face is white.
Early on the scandal was compared with a sexual harassment story of years past, that of another black conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. But the fact that Anita Hill, Thomas' accuser was a black woman, allowed for easy character assassination by the Senate Judiciary Committee and some in the media at the time.
Hill was portrayed as "slick" and a "political opportunist" even though she was one of only a handful of accomplished African-American law professors at that time. And even though Hill's allegations could be corroborated by other witnesses the hearing was cut abruptly short by then chairman and now Vice President Joe Biden.I clearly remember the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas testimony. While I saw Ms. Hill as remarkably credible, I remember the negative reception she received from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the media and the public. Today, I heard the media give Sharon Bialek's statements instant credibility and I wondered why the difference in reception to the two women.
Have public and media attitudes changed toward accusers of sexual harrassment over the past 20 years or do views of women who claim to be victims of sexual harrassment differ according to their race? What do you think?
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