A Supreme Court Justice Thinks Blacks Are Too Stupid For Some Universities

Justices heard arguments in the case of a white former student, Abigail Fisher, who said she was denied admission to the University of Texas because of her race.

Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that admitting students through holistic review might do them a disservice, and that African-American students who are not in the top 10 percent of their high school might benefit from attending a “slower-track school” as opposed to the state flagship. Fisher appealed the case back to the Supreme Court.

This viewpoint by one of the nation’s top judicial voices comes as colleges across America are dealing with high levels of racial incidents and confrontations on campus.

“They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them”, he said.

The liberal justices – Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s only Hispanic – were supportive of the university’s program, agreeing that it was a minimal use of race in support of creating a diverse student body that provides a richer learning environment for all.

Wednesday’s session lasted 30 minutes longer than usual with some of the court’s conservative judges voicing doubt over the success of affirmative action, its long-term value and whether it could harm some minority students. “Maybe it ought to have fewer”, Scalia said. She graduated from Louisiana State University in 2012. He has criticized the Supreme Court’s recent decision that said same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), who chairs the Black Caucus, said Scalia’s comments were “disgusting, inaccurate and insulting to African Americans”.

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Wednesday questioned whether some blacks and Hispanics are academically ready for the University of Texas at Austin, he drew quick criticism from civil rights advocates.

Fisher v. University of Texas is coming before the Court for the second time, having been heard once before in 2013. “We’re just arguing the same case”, Kennedy said.

Roberts, Scalia and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. all criticized UT’s plan.

Scalia apparently was citing work by UCLA law professor and economist Richard Sander, who has found that affirmative action policies do more harm than good to African Americans who do not enter college with the credentials of their peers.

Scalia said the curriculum at the elite school may be too advanced for minorities.

Scalia was referring to a brief filed in the case that discussed an academic proposition called “mismatch theory”.

But the makeup of the Supreme Court has changed significantly since 2003, and the Court’s decision to revisit the Fisher case this term has led some supporters of affirmative action to fear a tide-change on this issue. A source familiar with the situation clarified that Scalia likely referenced other summarized legal arguments when he spoke.

It is hardly surprising that Scalia stirred controversy at the hearing: If anything, his recent public comments about the court have become even more blunt and the criticism of his colleagues when he is on the losing side ever more stinging.