Don’t Give Thomas Sowell the Medal of Freedom
Don’t Give Thomas Sowell the Medal of Freedom
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vYzEpKTNdMoaKbRL19oPu
This is the title of a piece on stopbeingprey.com. The author, Clay, has spent the past decade running a social-media account with over 215k followers dedicated to Thomas Sowell’s ideas.
I need to be clear about the petition’s real purpose. It was never truly about Thomas Sowell receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I believe he deserves it. I simply saw no realistic path under which that medal would ever be placed around his neck.
Twice President Trump has signed proclamations that named Thomas Sowell:
• 2025 National Black History Month Proclamation
• 2026 National Black History Month Proclamation
I even wondered whether Sowell had already been offered the award and quietly declined. That would be entirely in character for a man who spent his life dismantling self-congratulatory intellectuals.
This petition exists to elevate Sowell’s ideas into the national spotlight. I said as much in my first public video with Alex Peal on May 17 when the petition launched:
🎥 Long Overdue: Thomas Sowell and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
When George W. Bush awarded Sowell the National Humanities Medal, Clarence Thomas accepted it on his behalf.
https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/thomas-sowell
When Ronald Reagan offered him the position of Secretary of Education, Sowell declined. Thanks to Clay's article above, I learned that Reagan then appointed him to the Economic Policy Advisory Board. Sowell attended only one meeting—and resigned immediately afterward. As he put it: “People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.”
Recently the Hoover Institution held a major event celebrating Sowell's legacy, bringing together some of the greatest minds and dear friends of Thomas Sowell. He did not attend. He sent a recorded message thanking Hoover for the freedom they gave him and noting that he would not have felt comfortable asking so many busy people to gather for his sake. Classic Sowell!
The Sowell Legacy: Ideas, Impact, and Intellectual Freedom
Celebrating a lifetime of fearless inquiry, principled scholarship, and contributions that have shaped generations of thinkers and policymakers.
So share the petition. Share the ideas. Honor the man by forcing conversations about the work itself.
change.org/AwardSowell