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Clarence Thomas

Justice Clarence Thomas on the Declaration of Independence

Remarks by the current Supreme Court's longest-serving justice that stoked controversy.

Jonathan H. Adler | 4.26.2026 12:50 PM

On April 15, Justice Clarence Thomas delivered a lecture at the University of Texas at Austin in honor of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Here's a taste:

The second paragraph of the Declaration proclaims: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…."  Throughout my youth, these truths were articles of faith that were impervious to bigotry or discrimination. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines "self-evident" as "obviously true, and requiring no proof, argument or explanation."  Whether they had a divine source, or a worldly one, they were never........

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