In heartbreaking detail, Sheridan Gorman’s parents spoke out for the first time on Thursday’s CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News about the March 19 murder of their daughter on the shores of Lake Michigan while walking with her fellow Loyola University of Chicago students before they encountered an alleged gunman who was in the country illegally. Speaking to chief correspondent Matt Gorman, they both mourned the life their daughter would no longer be able to lead and demanded changes to public policy, including for local and state law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents. As we’ve documented at NewsBusters, the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC gave Gorman’s murder only three minutes and 43 seconds on their flagship morning and evening newscasts in March while CNN and MS NOW had yet to offer a dedicated, standalone news report on Gorman’s killing. Gorman told CBS Mornings viewers Sheridan “was gunned down while on an early morning walk with her friends, just a few blocks from her dorm” and “[a]uthorities say the suspect who was lurking behind a lighthouse on a Lake Michigan pier was living in the country illegally.” “Gorman’s parents, who are understandably so raw from the tragedy, described the level of heartbreak they did not know existed. They say when your child goes off to college, you worry about drugs, alcohol, maybe even tuition, but not this,” he continued. WATCH: Sheridan Gorman’s parents have remarkable strength. Jessica and Thomas Gorman spoke Wednesday in a CBS News exclusive on @CBSMornings about their daughter’s murder allegedly by an illegal alien, telling @CBSMattGutman they “grieve not only for all of the people that she… pic.twitter.com/Q1UGhJFLib — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2026 Jessica Gorman emphasized she “grieve[s] not only for all of the people that she touched in this life, but the people she won’t touch” and “[n]o one should have to deal with the police coming to your door at 6:00 a.m., falling to your knees when you hear the news that no parent should ever hear.” “There’s nothing that prepares you for going to the medical examiner’s office and filling out the paperwork...and then you have to go identify your daughter’s body...[N]othing makes you ready for that,” said Thomas Gorman. Jessica’s tone went from mourning to one of righteous and understandable anger: “[People] say it was a senseless tragedy. It wasn’t. It was a murder. It was a preventable murder.” Gutman divulged the criminal illegal alien’s likely legal defense, which is that he “lost a portion of his brain and skull after he was robbed and shot in the head in Columbia in 2018” and thus “had the mental capacity of a child.” Jessica Gorman slammed this as a cop-out: “He had the mental capacity and the wherewithal to buy a gun, to have a mask on and to be waiting. The mask was on and he had a gun pointed at my daughter when she passed out.” Thomas had his own take: “A child does not do that.” Asked about “the policies that you think made this happen,” Thomas Gorman stated “there needs to be some cooperation between state, local government and — and federal officials” anytime “someone commits a crime and they’ve been here illegally[.]” “[I]n our mind, he should have been handed over to the feds at that point,” he added. Gutman said the family doesn’t “want their daughter’s death to be about politics,” but “they do want accountability.” Jessica Gorman had the closing thought: “I don’t know what the longevity of this effort takes, but I will never rest. And yes, they’ve awakened a bear, they’ve awakened a big grizzly, mama bear. I’ve gotta fight for my child. I have to fight for yours. I have to turn this devastating darkness into light somehow.” Gutman then discussed his sit-down with co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson. Of course, the latter two did not consider an entire side of the political aisle largely opposes allowing local and state law enforcement to alert federal immigration agencies when an illegal alien commits a crime, is jailed, or even released (click “expand”): GUTMAN: And having met them and spent some time with them, I am sure they will turn it into light somehow. Now, Medina has not yet entered a plea and is set to be arraigned next week. He faces several charges, including first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. He could face 20 years to life in prison, if convicted. But what Sheridan parents want more than anything is that no other family should ever have to experience this, guys. KING: I — I love that they’re speaking, number one, my heart breaks for them. GUTMAN: I know. KING: But I love that they are calling it out. Don’t call this a sense — senseless tragedy — BURLESON: Right. KING: — that it was a murder that could have been prevented. And the way that they talk about the detail — you know, we hear about it in the movies. And we read about it identifying the body, filling out the paperwork. GUTMAN: Yeah. KING: But to know that you have to go through that, Matt, it’s just tough. BURLESON: Yeah. When you have to bury your kid, that is one thing no parent wants to do. KING: No. BURLESON: But the word that keeps jumping out to me, it’s like you said, Gayle, that word preventable. KING: Yes, yes. BURLESON: That is the word that just breaks my heart. GUTMAN: And nothing accounts for it. KING: Yeah. GUTMAN: And nothing will ever make that family better. BURLESON: Ooof. GUTMAN: They just hope to be able to prevent other people from ever experiencing that again. KING: I’m in awe of them in the way that they’re speaking. BURLESON: And their strength. KING: That will make a difference. An abridged version aired on the CBS Evening News with many of the same key moments, but there was one additional moment regarding the policy and politics. In it, Jessica Gorman told Gutman that “I don’t care what side of the aisle politically people are on or you’re right in the middle like us” because, regardless, “[t]his can’t happen. You’ve got to make changes.” Wednesday’s @CBSEveningNews with @TonyDokoupil also shared portions of @CBSMattGutman’s interview with Sheridan Gorman’s parents In a portion that didn’t air on @CBSMornings, they said people of all political beliefs should work together to ensure murders committed by illegal… pic.twitter.com/MBDtE6qS3A — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2026 Thomas agreed: “We should all be able to agree about the safety of our kids.” Back live with anchor Tony Dokoupil, Gutman declared “[t]heir heartbreak is immeasurable” and while the illegal alien suspect “could face the rest of his life in prison if convicted,” the Gorman family faces “a long road ahead” because “[m]urder cases in Cook County can take four to six years to reach trial[.]” For his part, Dokoupil thanked Gutman by telling him this was “a difficult but important story tonight.” Since our first series of studies, NBC grew to one minute and 21 seconds with April 2’s Meet the Press becoming the only Sunday morning political talk show to cover Gorman’s death with 58 seconds from her hometown congressman, Mike Lawler (R-NY). And with two Gorman interviews adding seven minutes and 33 seconds, CBS’s tally now stands at nine minutes and 34 seconds of coverage. Overall, the broadcast networks have now dedicated 12 minutes and 15 seconds on Gorman’s death. As for CNN and MS NOW, they remain wholly uninterested. To see the relevant CBS transcripts from April 22, click here (for CBS Mornings) and here (for the CBS Evening News).

After the Virginia redistricting referendum passed narrowly, Wednesday’s CNN This Morning discussion on the new gerrymandered maps included jokes about the new “lobster claw” district as host Audie Cornish chuckled multiple times about the result for Republicans and the disenfranchisement of Republican voters across the state. However, Cornish did also mention some Democratic hypocrisy on redistricting. Cornish, who earlier in the opening lead of the show said the result would “even the score in the redistricting fight,” asked NPR correspondent Tamara Keith about redistricting: “Was the juice worth the squeeze here for Republicans?” Keith responded as if the fight was a wash when taking multiple states into account, and then Cornish made a point about Democrat Hypocrisy on redistricting: “And Democrats kind of have to go back on all the campaigning and philosophizing about redistricting and how they feel about it.”   CNN This Morning talked about Virginia Redistricting on Wednesday, as host Audie Cornish joked about the "lobster claw" district. In fairness, she also pointed out recent redistricting hypocrisy from Dems. Would Cornish ever joke about Democrat voter disenfranchisement? pic.twitter.com/9H1zNgSWuk — Nick (@nspin310) April 22, 2026   But after she made that good point, she went into laughter and jokes about Republican disenfranchisement with a showcase of the maps, especially the so-called “lobster claw”: Because there is this one section they call the lobster claw. Alright. So, if you're looking on your TV on the left, there's a lot of red there right now. You look over onto the other side and there's that little - little lobster tail jutting out into the sea of red. Never mind all the blue. Cornish joked about the gerrymander, Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright labeled Democratic House Leader Hakeen Jeffries as the “Brooklyn Brawler” and started his talking points of “this started in Texas. A redistricting war led by Donald Trump. Responded in California with Prop 50.” The CNN host called the Democratic reaction a “victory dance” and pointed out how Democrats felt their gerrymandering was better since they got it through voter referenda: I mean, what I hear in this victory dance, because I like the rhyme, is the fact that Democrats feel like the fact that it was voters, in particular, who agreed with them somehow gives them sort of the edge in saying, look, you guys invited this fight, and then the voters confirmed their rejection of it.  Seawright ended the conversation while he said exactly what Conrish had stated was a Democrat victory dance: “It was OK for Texas to not ask the people what their will was and simply redraw the seats. But somehow or another, it was cheating or doing something wrong for Virginia voters to suggest what they want their maps to be.” Cornish ended her segment, again, with some laughter and this close about the blame game: “Well, in the meantime, I think all of these Republicans in Virginia are texting each other this morning, trying to figure out whose fault this was.” The fault may lie in the new, allegedly moderate Governor of Virginia, who pledged not to redistrict in 2025. The key difference in media coverage was the coverage of the disenfranchisement of Republican voters compared to alleged cases of Republican gerrymandering as the media coverage from Cornish was slight laughter.  In Republican redistricting plans, there were accusations of a revival of Jim Crow and disenfranchisement of black voters. The difference was in coverage clear and showcased the media’s little care for the hurt of Republican voters in the recent fights in California and now Virginia. The transcript is below. Click "expand": CNN This Morning April 22, 2026 6:01:04 AM Eastern (...) AUDIE CORNISH: So Virginia voters helped Democrats even the score in the redistricting fight. Could Florida now be the tiebreaker? (...) 6:15:28 AM Eastern AUDIE CORNISH Alright. Bringing in my friends in the group chat: Tamara Keith, senior political correspondent for NPR and host of NPR's politics podcast. Charlie Dent, former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, and Antjuan Seawright, Democratic strategist. I want to just play for you the response from the Republican in Virginia who's head of the campaign arm there, just for a moment, so you can understand, like, sort of how they're taking it.  REP. RICHARD HUDSON (R-NC): You know, it hurts when you've got an illegal gerrymander that violates the state constitution, draws a divided purple state 10 to 1. That makes it harder. [jumpcut] But there's no one who can look you in the eye and tell you the Virginia map is a fair and legal map. CORNISH: Was the juice worth the squeeze here for Republicans? TAMARA KEITH: If you take this on net, if you take Texas and California and Virginia and Indiana, which ultimately didn't end up redistricting, you almost get a wash. CORNISH: Yeah. KEITH: All of this money, all of this effort, all of this pain, members of Congress inevitably losing their seats, incumbents losing their seats. And for what ultimately just kind of - kind of a wash in a year where Republicans are in trouble. CORNISH: Yeah. And Democrats kind of have to go back on all the campaigning and philosophizing about redistricting and how they feel about it. I just want to give people a sense of what the old district looked like, or the current district, and what the new district looks like, what these changes will mean. Let me see if I can get it up on the screen there. Because there is this one section they call the lobster claw. Alright. So, if you're looking on your TV on the left, there's a lot of red there right now. You look over onto the other side and there's that little - little lobster tail jutting out into the sea of red. Never mind all the blue. It feels like we're right back to the problems that Democrats wanted out of. ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT: Well, I think Jeffries, in particular, sent a strong message, who I refer to sometimes as the Brooklyn Brawler. Don't come for me unless I send for you, as we say in the African-American community. Charlie, that's a proverb you should use sometime. But this started in Texas. Redistricting war led by Donald Trump. Responded in California with Prop 50 - CORNISH: That wasn't easy. I mean, Hakeem Jeffries tried to go to Maryland and get this done - SEAWRIGHT: However - CORNISH: - and it did not work. SEAWRIGHT: So, we had started in Texas. California, Prop 50. We framed them in Ohio, New Hampshire, Nebraska. We tamed them in Utah, picking up a seat. And now in Virginia. And now we're daring them to put a ballot initiative in Florida. Because when the people have a chance to express themselves about Republicans trying to steal the midterm election, the people responded properly. CORNISH: I mean, what I hear in this victory dance, because I like the rhyme, is the fact that Democrats feel like the fact that it was voters, in particular, who agreed with them somehow gives them sort of the edge in saying, look, you guys invited this fight, and then the voters confirmed their rejection of it.  CHARLIE DENT: Well, look, Congress, after this whole ordeal is finished, is it going to need to pass a law to ban mid-decade redistricting. This is terrible for democracy, because what's happening now is we're creating more very safe seats for both parties. The middle of this country is shrinking as a consequence. But I get it. But I - CORNISH: The only other person who said that to me this week was also retiring, and you're out of Congress. DENT: No, no. But I'm saying - CORNISH: I feel like when you're in Congress, they don't want to do anything about it. DENT: Well, look, I was - I've been involved with redistricting three different times in my life. This is an arduous process. It is painful. Once every ten years is enough. Now, look, Republicans made a strategic blunder entering into this. The juice was most certainly not worth the squeeze. In fact, they're probably going to lose more seats now because of this. These seats in Texas that they think they're going to win, five. They're not going to win all five of those seats. The mood is so bad. They were assuming -- they were assuming a bunch of Latinos are going to stay with the Republican Party. Well, that's a big assumption right now. So, it's a mistake. CORNISH: It occurs to me both of you have said something interesting, which is that it's the voters who have been the wild card here. KEITH: Certainly, there were ballot measures in those two states, in California and Virginia. Voters now - CORNISH: But even those thinking about Texas, you're assuming. KEITH: Oh, yes. CORNISH: - that those Latinos, we've won. You. It's locked. KEITH: And this is why there's talk of Florida being, potentially, a dummy-mander instead of a gerrymander. Because in the - in this year where Democrats are expected to do far better than Trump did against Harris, if you're drawing lines based on 2024, you're potentially making a terrible mistake. DENT: It's the next election. SEAWRIGHT: But can we - KEITH: Yes. SEAWRIGHT: Can we say this, because I think it's a piss-poor choice of words by the person who ran the campaign in Virginia, in his response. It was OK for Texas to not ask the people what their will was and simply redraw the seats. But somehow or another, it was cheating or doing something wrong for Virginia voters to suggest what they want their maps to be. People could have voted no. They could have voted no in California. Yet, they made a strategic decision. One of the undermining factors of last night is that voters had a chance to express their disappointment with the president and those in charge, because Virginia, just like Maryland, more so than any other state in the country, has been impacted by the government layoffs. CORNISH: Well, in the meantime, I think all of these Republicans in Virginia are texting each other this morning, trying to figure out whose fault this was. (...)

ABC, CBS, and NBC were pleased to report Wednesday on their leading newscasts that Democrats won the Virginia special election vote to gerrymander the commonwealth’s congressional delegation to a ten Democrats to one Republican map, arguing this move to “swing the balance of power in the House” was “a response” to the “firestorm...ignited by President Trump” and the GOP last year in Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas. ABC’s Good Morning America stood apart as, not only did it cheerlead the “yes” vote after ignoring it in the days leading up to it, they refused to tell viewers this could be all for naught if the state Supreme Court weighs in and declares the ballot initiative unconstitutional. “Also breaking overnight, a big win for Democrats in Virginia. We’re going to tell you what it means for their hopes to take the House in the midterm elections,” said co-host George Stephanopoulos in a tease. Tossing later to congressional correspondent Jay O’Brien, Stephanopoulos admitted it “could help them take control of the House in November’s midterm elections.” ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ eagerly promoted the Virginia Democrats’ gerrymander and claimed they only did it “in direct response to a firestorm of redistricting that was really ignited by President Trump over the summer” with Texas then Missouri and North Carolina, leaving out… pic.twitter.com/Evjjxb78Ny — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2026 O’Brien boasted “this was a major victory for Democrats” in this “bitterly fought referendum” to give Democrats “as many as four safe Democratic seats.” “This is in direct response to a firestorm of redistricting that was really ignited by President Trump over the summer, when he demanded that Texas Republicans redraw their maps for safe Republican seats. Other states like Missouri and North Carolina following suit,” O’Brien continued, only conceding “Democratic-controlled states like California” joined Virginia in “cancel[ing] out some of those redistricting gains” by the GOP. As numerous conservatives pointed out online and on liberal cable networks Tuesday and Wednesday, gerrymandering has been a long phenomenon with Democrats having repeatedly left the GOP hamstrung in states like Illinois and Maryland (which we explained in detail on Tuesday). But within the confines of this decade, the so-called redistricting fight began with New York shoving through a new map for the 2024 election that sank three Republican incumbents (and protected a Democrat who had flipped a seat in a special election). Later in the day, ABC’s World News Tonight had a 24-second news brief with anchor David Muir also engaging in revisionist history: Tonight, a major change to the congressional map in Virginia that could have a big impact on the midterm elections. Voters in Georgia — Virginia, I should say — overnight approving a plan to redraw the map, giving Democrats a better chance at winning ten of 11 congressional districts in Virginia. This measure, passed last night, comes in direct response to President Trump’s demand for Republicans in Texas to redraw their map. Some time ago, an effort to pick up more seats in the House for Republicans. NBC’s Today also didn’t cover the vote until their side had won. Co-host Savannah Guthrie admitted in teases that “Democrats score[d] a major victory in a high-stakes showdown” and “could give Democrats a big advantage in that state in the upcoming midterms.” Co-host Craig Melvin used the start of the report to describe Tuesday’s result as one “that could shake up the approaching mid-term elections” and “swing the balance of power in the House.” Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez called the “yes” vote’s triumph part of “an escalating fight over how and when the lines of congressional seats are drawn” that previously were done “every 10 years...but last year, President Trump pushed for Texas to do it early to give Republicans an advantage and possibly get more seats.” Thus, he argued, “Democrats are fighting back.” NBC’s ‘Today’ was also ready to tout the Virginia result, saying Tuesday’s result “could...swing the balance of power in the House” in “an escalating fight” started “last year” when “President Trump pushed for Texas to do it early to give Republicans an advantage and possibly get… pic.twitter.com/n0E6baUCAL — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2026 Once again, with the New York example, that’s not entirely accurate. Further, all of these networks ignored what Trump 2024 political director James Blair told CNN’s Dana Bash on Wednesday, which was the 2020 Census dramatically undercounted red states and overcounted in blue states. Here was more from Gutierrez’s recap, conceding at the end the courts could undo this and return Virginia to a map currently made up of six Democrats and five Republicans (click “expnad”0; GUTIERREZ: The vote was narrow and it’s part of a larger battle across the country kicked off when President Trump last year called for Republicans to launch redistricting efforts in multiple key states to help them in this year’s midterm elections. Democrats countered with their own proposals in other states in Virginia, focusing their campaign on the President, who warned his supporters it could mean his opponents take over Congress. TRUMP: The great things that we did now on a national basis is going to be destroyed. GUTIERREZ: Trump has been hitting the road campaigning for his party. TRUMP: This November, we gotta win the midterms. GUTIERREZ: But the President’s approval rating is sinking and as low as the point of his second term in NBC News’s latest poll, partially driven by the unpopular Iran war. (....) GUTIERREZ: Virginia’s redistricting effort will likely face legal challenges going forward. The state Supreme Court has reserved the right to rule on questions surrounding the measure. But this Democratic victory in Virginia could motivate Republicans elsewhere to try to make changes. The GOP in Florida, for example, is now considering their own redistricting effort. Melvin had a news brief on the referendum in the second hour, which crucially included something the first hour ignored, which was the fact that the gerrymander was passed with a bare majority of 51 percent. CBS Mornings joined ABC in only giving this good news for their side a partial segment. Congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns said Virginia’s new Democrat seats could have “potentially a big impact” even though “this vote was narrow, just 51 percent[.]” She too concluded with the state courts (click “expand”): MATT GUTMAN: And, Caitlin, speaking about that balance of power, CBS News projects Virginia voters have narrowly approved a new congressional map that could give Democrats a huge advantage in that state. How big of an impact could this have on the midterms in November? HUEY-BURNS: Yeah, potentially a big impact, Matt. This vote was narrow, just 51 percent of voters in Virginia voted to change the congressional map just months before those critical midterm elections as you mentioned. But take a look at this right here, the new map gives Democrat an advantage in ten House districts, leaving just one Republican safe seat and that could boost the Democrats’ chances of winning four additional seats in the House of Representatives this November, so no question right now this is a major blow for Republicans who are already holding on to such a narrow majority in the House, as we just talked about. But, look, this is no done deal. Even though the vote happened last night from the public, the state Supreme Court in Virginia is going to weigh in on whether all of this is legal[.] To see the relevant transcripts from April 22, click here (for ABC’s Good Morning America), here (for ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).

On Wednesday, ABC’s Good Morning America became the first lead broadcast network morning or evening newscast to mention the Justice Department’s indictment of the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for defrauding donors by paying millions to white supremacists and other extremists, including the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and those behind the infamous 2017 Charlottesville rally. ABC only doled out 31 seconds to the charges at the end of a segment that had spent nearly two minutes prior (1:51) bemoaning FBI Director Kash Patel’s public comments about his defamation suit against The Atlantic for its anonymously-sourced smear campaign. Worse yet, ABC whined the administration targeted not only “a prominent civil rights organization,” but “one of the most prominent in the nation.” ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ was the first lead broadcast network newscast on Wednesday to cover the Justice Dept announcing charges against the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center for allegedly defrauding donors and secretly paying members of extremist groups like the KKK. ABC… pic.twitter.com/zm9JfYotTJ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2026 “And during — it was during a press conference that he made these comments [about The Atlantic story], and it was a press conference to announce federal charges against a prominent civil rights organization,” fretted co-host Robin Roberts. Under the chyron “Civil Rights Group Indicted on Fraud Charges,” chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky crammed this stunning turn regarding one of the left’s chief cudgel’s against conservatives (and the inspiration behind the attempted massacre at the Family Research Council) into three sentences: One of the most prominent in the nation. The Justice Department, accusing the Southern Poverty Law Center, Robin, of defrauding donors by secretly paying informants inside the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups that it long investigated. The Southern Poverty Law Center said, “we are outraged by the false allegations” and accused the Trump administration of targeting it for political reasons, guys. Along with the time spent on the tawdry claims in the D.C. elite’s favorite magazine (bankrolled by Laurene Powell Jobs, a former friend of Ghislaine Maxwell), ABC was far more interested in this than the group used to claim mainstream conservative and Christian groups are “hate groups.” “Now to FBI Director Kash Patel speaking about his $250 million dollars defamation suit against The Atlantic magazine and denying charges of improper behavior — behavior in an article it published about him,” Roberts began. Katersky completely ignored until the very end the entire reason Patel went before cameras to harp on The Atlantic hogwash (click “expand”): KATERSKY: The FBI director defended his job performance and denounced claims about his drinking, saying he’s never been drunk at work. This morning, FBI director Kash Patel is taking aim at The Atlantic, which published claims of unexplained absences, impulsive decision making, and excessive drinking. PATEL: I’ve never been intoxicated on the job and that is why we filed a $250 million dollar defamation lawsuit. And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on. I’ll see you in court. KATERSKY: Patel is now suing for defamation and lashing out at reporters. PATEL: I can say unequivocally that I never listened to the fake news mafia. And as — when they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job. KATERSKY: The Atlantic article said “members of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.” It also said “a request for ‘breaching equipment’—normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings—was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors.” Patel’s boss, acting attorney general Todd Blanche, said he had not read the article but disputed its contents. ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE: I have a lot of concerns and my concerns are completely around the anonymous reporting that comes forth constantly that — that you know, reporters have an obligation to report and — and they have due diligence that they’re supposed to do. KATERSKY: The Atlantic said it stood by its reporting and called Patel’s defamation lawsuit meritless. And this morning, House Democrats are demanding answers from Kash Patel, writing in a letter that the allegations of heavy drinking are shocking and indicative of a public emergency. To see the relevant ABC transcript from April 22, click here.

Many speeches will be delivered this year about the Declaration of Independence as we celebrate its 250th birthday. However, I think the greatest was just delivered by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on April 15 at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas, Austin. The force of Thomas’ words does not just result from his deep understanding of what the United States is about, and how the Declaration of Independence defines it. The force flows from Thomas’ personal reality. He has lived what the Declaration is about. His words are not just the product of thought and study, but of Thomas’s entire life experience. Thomas grew up poor in America’s Jim Crow South. But he says, “Despite the multiplicity of laws and customs that wreaked a bigotry, it was universally believed among those blacks with whom I lived and who had very little or no formal education, that in God’s eyes and under our Constitution, we were equal.” “When you lived in a segregated world with palpable discrimination and the governments nearest to you enforced laws and customs that promoted unequal treatment, it was obvious that your rights or your dignity did not come from those governments, but rather from God,” he continued. An ominous beginning for a future Supreme Court justice. Thomas’s life, career, and education were a trial by fire. By the time he became chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the country had already been captured by progressivism, particularly on matters of race. His principled adherence to the eternal God-given truths of the Declaration and refusal to fold to the progressive agenda, which he calls the “then-prevailing orthodoxy on race,” was a lonely battle that left him under constant attack.   It was then that he realized that carrying out the agenda was more than knowing the principles, but having the courage to fight, and even, if necessary, die for them. Thomas notes that the principles stated in the opening of the Declaration – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights” – could have gotten nowhere without the last paragraph of the Declaration. There, the signers conclude, “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” “What changed the world,” per Thomas, “was not the words, but the commitment and spirit of the people willing to labor, sacrifice, and even give their lives” for what Lincoln called at Gettysburg “the last full measure of devotion.” Thomas asks, “Do any of us have what it took for our young soldiers to storm Normandy Beach, to fight at Guadalcanal, to later fight at Chosin Reservoir?” He discusses the emergence of progressivism, which challenged the core principles of the Declaration. As Thomas notes, “its pedigree is not American but was born in 19th-century Germany of Otto von Bismarck.” It’s a worldview that rejects the notion that God-given truths govern our lives, but rather politics and government so-called experts. It’s deeply ironic and unfortunate that the Civil Rights Movement, a movement about human freedom, a movement about moving Black people out from the distortions of political control, and to our regime of freedom defined by our Declaration’s principles, itself saw progressivism as the answer to problems of race. We are in a great struggle today for the future of our country. The movement toward progressivism has delivered to us a new time with massive government, deficits, debts, and bankrupt entitlement programs. The assault of progressivism on the God-given principles of the Declaration of Independence has also taken a great toll on our culture, with the traditional family and our birth of children in dangerous decline. To restore the vitality of our nation, we for sure today need a “new birth of freedom.” A good start for all is to listen to Thomas’ message. Star Parker is the founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, “What Is the CURE for America?” is available now.