Last week, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas arrived at the University of Notre Dame to speak about the Declaration of Independence. Public speaking appearances for Clarence Thomas are quite rare, which makes this speech significant, and even more significant is the story of how his life experience shaped his understanding of the Declaration of Independence and what America truly is at its core. As Justice Thomas stated in his speech, “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.”