Justice Clarence Thomas' Speech at Notre Dame: Thoughts of a True Great American.
A memorable address on the law, slavery and the Declaration of Independence, his upbringing, and politicization of the Court.
I write this moments after watching Justice Clarence Thomas’ address at Notre Dame University on September 16, 2021 in order to assure that I can at least try to capture some of the magic that great man displayed and imparted to the audience there and, through the video, to anyone who has the immeasurable good fortune to be able to watch it— and not just so-called “pull quotes” but the entire one hour and 20 minutes, including the question and answer session following the formal address. I emphasize that part of the video as that is where the real person who is Justice Thomas — the honest, down-to-earth, lover of America, lover of “flyover country”, lover and dedicated scholar of the Declaration of Independence, jovial, with a superb sense of humor and a laugh as infectious as any you will ever hear! — shows through.
I learned about this video from a post by a colleague on Ricochet, the full text of which was as follows, after the most appropriate title “One True Supreme Court Justice” (which can be accessed here) :
Why is it so hard to get more than one or two real Supreme Court Justices at a time? Last week, Justice Thomas gave a stirring speech, a model of a classic American. Some excerpts:
“What had given my life meaning and sense of belonging, that this country was my home, was jettisoned as old-fashioned and antiquated. … It was easy and convenient to fill that void with victimhood. … So much of my time focused intently on our racial differences and grievances, much like today.”
“As I matured, I began to see that the theories of my young adulthood were destructive and self-defeating. … I had rejected my country, my birthright as a citizen, and I had nothing to show for it.”
“The wholesomeness of my childhood had been replaced with an emptiness, cynicism, and despair. I was faced with the simple fact that there was no greater truth than what my nuns and grandparents had taught me. We are all children of God and rightful heirs to our nation’s legacy of equality. We had to live up to the obligations of the equal citizenship to which we were entitled by birth.”
“ [I became] deeply interested in the Declaration of Independence.”
“The declaration captured what I had been taught to venerate as a child but had cynically rejected as a young man. All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
“As I had rediscovered the God-given principles of the declaration and our founding, I eventually returned to the [Catholic] Church, which had been teaching the same truths for millennia.”
“…there are many more of us, I think, who feel America is not so broken, as it is adrift at sea.”
“For whatever it is worth, the Declaration of Independence has weathered every storm for 245 years. It birthed a great nation. It abolished the sin of slavery. … While we have failed the ideals of the declaration time and again, I know of no time when the ideals have failed us.”
“It establishes a moral ideal that we as citizens are duty-bound to uphold and sustain. We may fall short, but our imperfection does not relieve us of our obligation.”
My Lady and I had the incredible good fortune to have attended two occasions when Justice Thomas was present and, while we greatly admired him long before those occasions, after meeting him, he became one of our life icons; meeting him was an experience which simply cannot be fully described in mere words, but the following is the way I attempted to do so in the form of a comment to the post above, penned by Mark Alexander, to whom I again express my deep and abiding thanks for sending out the link to this memorable address by a truly Great American:
Mark, no words could better describe this truly great American, who is, with President Reagan, one of the true icons of my life as an American. We were fortunate enough, through our activity in a national legal organization, The American Inns of Court, to personally hear him speak on two occasions, and on one of those, a conference of some kind in Houston as I recall, to spend a little time with the Justice. I have shared this story before, some time ago, on Ricochet, and to those who have already heard it, I apologize in advance, but I was moved by Mark’s post to share again what an amazing person this One True Supreme Justice is, as we saw him that evening. On both occasions, he gave heartfelt speeches, as he always does, as his inner American citizenship is so deep in his very being, he could not give any other kind when speaking of his beloved Nation and its Founding Principles. After the meeting in Houston wrapped up, there was the usual line of well-wishers waiting to at least shake Justice Thomas’ hand and maybe even say a brief word or two. Well, the line went on forever, for a very good reason, and that reason was that Justice Thomas took a huge amount of time speaking to each and every person as long as they wanted to linger with him! Think of the politicians you have seen at these functions who have the “right hand pass along” maneuver down pat and that would describe the very opposite of Justice Thomas, who thoroughly enjoyed “visiting”, as we Southerners call it, with each and every one who wanted to spend time talking with him. My Lady and I so enjoyed our time chatting with Justice Thomas and here is one of the main features of this great man which stand out in my memory: he had the most raucous, loud, sincere laugh you have ever heard and, as I recall, My Lady regaled him with one of her family’s trademark stories about “life down on the Bayou” which he had a big laugh over. We can tell you, Mark, as some of those who have had the immense good fortune to see what he really is, this is one of the Great Americans of our time, and we so appreciate your sharing that speech with all of us. If you ever met him, you would understand our revulsion at those who have slandered his good name and character over and over again, like– well, the current occupant of the Office of the President of the United States.. who is not even quantifiable on the scale of The Hon. Clarence Thomas. Sincerely, Jim
The video to the entire session can be found here, and I simply do not have the words to fully express how deeply I wish every American would watch every single minute of it as it not only displays the reason we so admire this man, but the speech itself should be taught in every high school classroom with the topic of Civics and Public Affairs if, and I say this with a heavy heart, indeed, high schools still have Civics classes anymore.
Please, please watch this entire video, especially if you, like so many of us, and I am definitely in that number, think we may be in the process of losing our Republic. It will be the best investment of time you could possibly make and you will—I know I did- come away with renewed hope for the future of our Beloved Nation.