This Clarence Is the One With the ‘Bor-r-ring’ Style

WASHINGTON — Clarence Thomas, the low-key chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, is getting a little tired of being mistaken for his volatile namesake, Clarence Pendleton, chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

The two names and agencies are routinely reversed in newspaper editorials and television shows, Thomas said Wednesday in an interview with a small group of reporters. “They’re just interchangeable--like spare parts,” he complained.

The two men, both black, share opposition to goals and timetables as a way of hiring and promoting minorities and women, but Thomas resents anyone “intentionally or carelessely” confusing their styles. Thomas describes his own as “bor-r-ring.”

Pendleton is known for quips that insult his ideological opponents. His critics assert that his rhetoric cheapens debate on civil rights issues, thus actually harming conservative efforts to alter policies.

One of his best-known gibes is a reference to the comparable-worth concept, under which women are paid salaries similar to those of men if their jobs are deemed to be comparable in value. In November, 1984, Pendleton called the concept “the looniest idea since Looney Tunes came on the screen.”

Thomas, recalling that he has spoken out many times against comparable worth, said: “I didn’t say ‘Looney Tunes,’ so I didn’t capture the headlines. ‘Looney Tunes’ didn’t advance the debate but it made good copy.”

Does he intend to become more like “Penny,” as Thomas calls Pendleton? “No, no. This is it,” Thomas said of himself. The mistaken identification “makes the job difficult,” he said, “but I’ve grown to a point after four years of this not to expect much more from people.”