Texas Senator Ted Cruz is going to bat for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the second African-American to hold a position on the nation’s High Court.

On Monday, Cruz petitioned the Smithsonian Institute, asking that they correct the mistake that resulted in Thomas’ legacy being reduced to a short mention of the Anita Hill scandal during his confirmation hearing.

Said Cruz:

“As much as I am grateful for the museum and its efforts to preserve and promote the indispensable, yet oft-neglected, contributions of African Americans to the collective history of our nation, I believe the museum has made a mistake by omitting the enormous legacy and impact of Justice Thomas, as well as his compelling background,” Cruz wrote.

“After all, in 240 years, only three African Americans have served at the highest level of the executive or judicial branches of our great country—Justice Marshall, Justice Thomas, and President Barack Obama. President Obama has a large presence in the museum, so it would be appropriate to also examine Justices Marshall and Thomas,” Cruz observed. He said Thomas could be featured in an existing exhibit called “Making a Way Out of No Way”—something his colleague and Thomas’s fellow Southerner, Senator Tim Scott, called for earlier this month.

“While Justice Thomas and I do not share the same keen mastery of constitutional law, I can identify to some degree, with some of the inherent stereotypes and personal obstacles that Justice Thomas overcame to reach the pinnacle of his profession,” Scott wrote. “I can attest that, similar to Justice Thomas, as an African American man growing up in abject poverty of the Deep South, without the full arsenal of a nuclear family, and having struggled early on in school, options for my success seemed limited and role models or mentors were hard to find.”

Truly, a powerful man with a powerful legacy deserves to be remembered for more than a seedy harassment scandal that went nowhere.

If he were a liberal judge, would he have been treated so shabbily?
I’m going to go out on a limb and say, “no.”