Americans will hear a lot of speeches this year marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, but it’s hard to imagine anyone topping the one Justice Clarence Thomas delivered at the University of Texas at Austin. If one is inclined to believe that the majesty of our founding documents, and the ideals enshrined therein, still resonate in the hearts of Americans, then Justice Th...
Justice Clarence Thomas’s speech at the University of Texas at Austin presents a robust defense of the Declaration of Independence as a timeless moral compass, but it also serves as a vehicle for broader ideological critiques. The strongest version of his narrative—his "steelman"—is a call to revive civic education and individual responsibility, framing the Declaration as a living challenge rather than a historical artifact. He deserves credit for highlighting the moral failure of *Plessy v. Fer...