I think Thomas has been fairly consistent in saying that race shouldn’t have any bearing on redistricting. Liberals have okayed gerrymanders that benefit minorities (unwisely, IMO), while conservatives have said that discrimination against them is fine even if it’s explicit in the intent.
It’s kind of disappointing to see the condescending talk in comments like this about Thomas taking his orders from Scalia. He has his own distinct legal philosophy. While generally conservative (hence usually voting with the rest of the conservatives), it comes from a different perspective which is, overall, completely insane.
In every 8-1 decision, it’s virtually guaranteed that the dissenter is Thomas. This is also why he doesn’t write many opinions, because even when he sides with the others, his reasoning is different from theirs, and they don’t want his as the basis for precedent. The only ones he writes are very uncontroversial cases, usually unanimous.