Read the most controversial statement by Justice Scalia on admissions and race

Scalia was appointed by former President Reagan.

“That Justice Scalia could raise such an uninformed idea shows just how out of touch he is with the values of this nation”, Reid said.

“Thousands of black Americans have excelled in top tier universities”.

“It’s so heartening to see Scalia, a Supreme Court justice, think so negatively of a whole race of people”, Jillian Kushner, a University of Texas at Austin senior, said.

Garre: If this Court rules that the University of Texas can’t consider race, or if it rules that universities that consider race have to die a death of a thousand cuts for doing so, we know exactly what’s going to happen. The case that the Supreme Court is hearing is Fisher v. Texas, a case that the Court has already heard once before.

SCALIA: I’m just not impressed by the fact that – that the University of Texas may have fewer.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s comments questioning whether some black students should attend “less-advanced” schools drew fierce criticism Thursday from a growing chorus of black lawmakers who said the remarks undermine public confidence in the bench.

Some academicians call such a theory “mismatch”, and Scalia noted an amicus brief in the case that said most black scientists do not come from the most highly selective schools. Currently, he claims,”they’re being pushed into schools that are too advanced for them”.

It was not clear which students Scalia was referring to. And, in fact, if you look at the National Science Foundation data on where top scientists come from, top black scientists come from, sure, maybe numbers one through five are historically black colleges and universities.

A ruling against the university could imperil affirmative action at colleges and universities nationwide. Only 47 students admitted to UT-Austin that year had lower GPA’s and test scores than Fisher- 42 were White, only five were minority students.

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.

Scalia also said he questioned the premise that the university “should admit as many blacks as possible…” Justice Scalia’s bias toward the plaintiffs was clear when he stated, “maybe [the University of Texas] ought to have fewer” African Americans.

Civil rights lawyers who were there to hear the argument sat in stunned silence.

As Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s retirement does not seem imminent, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research assistant is hoping for his death.

Various media outlets including Mother Jones, The Hill and Quartz, reported Scalia suggested that African-Americans belong in inferior colleges, accusing him of racism.