Freedom and Obligation - Justice Clarence Thomas' Hillsdale College 2016 Commencement Address

The following excerpts are from the Hillsdale College 2016 Commencement Address delivered by Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States.

Justice Clarence Thomas is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.  Born in Pinpoint, Georgia, he is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Yale Law School.  Prior to his nomination to the Supreme Court in 1991, he served as an assistant attorney general of Missouri - an attorney with the Monsanto Company - a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator John Danforth - assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education - chairman of the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission - and a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  In 2007, he published My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir.

This man is qualified to speak, on many levels, about the freedom assured us as American citizens in the Constitution of the United States.  And, he is qualified to speak to us, on many levels, about our responsibilities based upon that freedom.

The following are excerpts from his 2016 Commencement Address at Hillsdale College and is certainly worthwhile reading for ALL Americans.  I received this speech reprint in my May/June 2016 issue of Hillsdale College's publication "Imprimis."   Imprimis is the free monthly speech digest of Hillsdale College and is dedicated to educating citizens and promoting civil and religious liberty by covering cultural, economic, political, and educational issues.  The content of Imprimis is drawn from speeches delivered to Hillsdale College-hosted events.

Freedom and Obligation–2016 Commencement Address
May/June 2016 • Volume 45, Number 5/6 •
Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/freedom-obligation-2016-commencement-address/

As the years since I attended college edge toward a half century, I feel a bit out of place talking with college students or recent graduates. So much has changed since I left college in 1971.  Things that were considered firm have long since lost their vitality, and much that seemed inconceivable is now firmly or universally established. 

Hallmarks of my youth, such as patriotism and religion, seem more like outliers, if not afterthoughts.  So in a sense, I feel woefully out of place speaking at commencement ceremonies.  My words will perhaps seem somewhat vintage in character rather than current or up-to-date.  In that context, I admit to being unapologetically Catholic, unapologetically patriotic, and unapologetically a constitutionalist.

.  .  .

In a broader context, we were obligated in our neighborhood to be good neighbors so that the neighborhood would thrive.  Whether there was to be a clean, thriving neighborhood - was directly connected to our efforts.  So there was always, to our way of thinking, a connection between the things we valued most and our personal obligations or efforts. 

There could be no freedom without each of us discharging our responsibilities.  When we heard the words duty, honor, and country, no more needed to be said.  But that is a bygone era.  Today, we rarely hear of our personal responsibilities in discussions of broad notions such as freedom or liberty.  It is as though freedom and liberty exist wholly independent of anything we do, as if they are predestined.

Related to this, our era is one in which different treatment or different outcomes are inherently suspect.  It is all too commonly thought that we all deserve the same reward or the same status - notwithstanding the differences in our efforts or in our abilities.  This is why we hear so often about "what is deserved" or "who is entitled."  By this way of thinking, the student who treats spring break like a seven-day bacchanalia is entitled to the same success as the conscientious classmate who works and studies while he plays.  And isn’t this same sense of entitlement often applied today to freedom?

.  .  .

At the end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked what the gathering had accomplished.  “A republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.” 

Nearly a century later, in a two-minute speech at Gettysburg, President Lincoln spoke similarly.  It is for the current generation, he said:

"to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

So many who have gone before us have done precisely that, dedicating their lives to preserving and enhancing our nation both in war and in peace, taking care that those who have given the last full measure of devotion have not done so in vain.

.  .  .

Throughout my youth, even as the contradiction of segregation persisted, we revered the ideals of our great nation.  We knew, of course, that our country was flawed, as are all human institutions.  But we also knew that our best hope lay in the ideal of liberty.  I watched with anguish as so many of the older people in my life groped and stumbled through the darkness of near or total illiteracy.  Yet they desperately wanted to learn and gain knowledge, and they understood implicitly how important it was to enjoy the fullness of American citizenship.  They had spent an aggregation of lifetimes standing on the edge of the dual citizenship that is at the heart of the 14th Amendment.

Bill Gray Note:  The 14th Amendment to the Constitution assures State and Federal citizenship for all persons regardless of race, both born or naturalized, in the United States.

.  .  .

But this is Hillsdale College, which is like a shining city on a hill.  This College, in the words of your mission statement, “considers itself a trustee of a heritage finding its clearest expression in the American experiment of self-government under law.”   The very existence of Hillsdale connotes independence, because Hillsdale, like America, was founded on the idea that liberty is an antecedent of government, not a benefit from government.

.  .  .

After this commencement ceremony ends, I implore you to take a few minutes to thank those who made it possible for you to come this far - your parents, your teachers, your pastor.  These are the people who have shown you how to sacrifice for those you love, even when that sacrifice is not always appreciated.

As you go through life, try to be a person whose actions teach others how to be better people and better citizens.  Reach out to the shy person who is not so popular.  Stand up for others when they’re being treated unfairly.  Take the time to listen to the friend who’s having a difficult time.

Do not hide your faith and your beliefs under a bushel basket, especially in this world that seems to have gone mad with political correctness.  Treat others the way you would like to be treated if you stood in their shoes.

These small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for learning citizenship - and your efforts to live them will help to form the fabric of a civil society and a free and prosperous nation where inherent equality and liberty are inviolable.  You are men and women of Hillsdale College, a school that has stood fast on its principles and its traditions at great sacrifice.  If you don’t lead by example, who will?

I have every faith that you will be a beacon of light for others to follow, like “a city on a hill [that] cannot be hidden.”   May God bless each of you now and throughout your lives, and may God bless America.                        

To subscribe to Imprimis, visit this URL link:   http://lp.hillsdale.edu/imprimis-print/?utm_source=imprimis_sidebar

Now that you have read the excerpts, it is my prayer that will lead you to read Justice Clarence Thomas' full speech at:  https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/freedom-obligation-2016-commencement-address/

And, let us sincerely pray that our next president will appoint a new Supreme Court Justice, to replace the deceased Antonin Scalia, with the same character, strength, patriotism, and conservative moral values as Justice Clarence Thomas.  Pray that this will be the model for new Justices for many years to come.

God bless you and God bless America,

Bill