Accusations by Professor Christine Blasey Ford against Judge Brett Kavanaugh in his Supreme Court confirmation hearing, have us looking back at Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony in the hearing of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

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Anita Hill Testified in 1991. But How Much Has Changed?

Producer: Bonnie Bertram

Professor Anita Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 during Justice Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, and we’re all having a bit of a déjà vu moment. Professor Christine Blasey Ford might testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. Hill claimed Thomas sexually harassed her; Ford alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. Both men categorically deny the accusations, and the women are accused of playing politics.

In a recent New York Times Opinion piece, Hill calls on the Committee, on which sit some of the same members as nearly three decades ago, to show the world that times have changed.

“To do better,” Hill writes, “the 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee must demonstrate a clear understanding that sexual violence is a social reality to which elected representatives must respond.” As Ford prepares to come forward and testify about Kavanaugh’s fitness for office, Hill knows first-hand what’s at stake by telling her story.