alternate journal title: fear and loathing in scotus

---

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia raised eyebrows on Wednesday with a comment he made during the court’s hearing of an affirmative action case, in which he seemed to suggest some African-Americans belong in lesser colleges.

Scalia was questioning the attorney for the University of Texas, which is defending its use of race as a factor in admissions in the case before the court.

“There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a less – a slower-track school where they do well,” Scalia said, according to the transcript. “One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas.”

The attorney, Gregory G. Garre, tried to interject, but Scalia continued.

“They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them,” Scalia said. “I’m just not impressed by the fact that the University of Texas may have fewer. Maybe it ought to have fewer. And maybe some – you know, when you take more, the number of blacks, really competent blacks, admitted to lesser schools, turns out to be less.”

Read more...

---

The reason more black scientists come from “less-advanced schools,” Mister Scalia, is because that’s where most black students wind up because of the racism inherent in not only our schools’ admissions offices, but our society at large. (It’s obviously alive and well in our government, as you’ve made so blatantly clear.)

To ignore the rates of poverty black students face, the often lower quality of public grade school education available to poor students, and other factors such as the bias against “black-sounding” (ie, not-white-enough) names for everything from college admissions to being hired when considering where most of them go to school is absurd. Add to this the fact that at least 75% of scholarships are awarded to non-hispanic white students, despite that demographic representing only 62% of applicants, and it becomes clear that most black students would have trouble affording more prestigious schools.

The conclusion that black students don’t belong in those schools because they’re “too fast for them,” is asinine and incredibly, staggeringly racist. You showed your privilege and your pasty white ass on this one, Scalia. It’s just too bad we have to wait for you to die to get you out of your ill-gained position of power.