Justice Antonin Scalia argued that affirmative action programs were hurting black students by sending them to schools that were too advanced for them.
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During an hour and a half of oral arguments on a race-conscious admissions plan used by the University of Texas at Austin, Scalia said that minority students who have inferior academic credentials may fare better at “a less advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well”. This is the second time the case has hit the highest court in the land. That would run counter to so many other background factors that are still allowed to be considered including the place an applicant lives, their test scores, and extracurricular activities – to exclude race from this equation is absolutely unacceptable. Fisher did not land in the top 10 percent of her high school class, so she is suing on the basis of the admissions program that admits the remainder of the university’s student body.
“I’m just not impressed by the fact that – the University of Texas may have fewer [black students without affirmative action]”.
The Supreme Court’s decision to revisit the case this term struck many supporters of affirmative action as an ominous sign, one suggesting that a 12-year-old societal compromise was in peril.
A ruling in the Texas case isn’t expected until next June.
She argued that a University of Texas affirmative-action policy unconstitutionally favored blacks and Hispanics.
With the stakes high, many observers have been hoping for some indication of how the justices will rule in the case.
So that’s the context in which Scalia was saying schools like the University of Texas might be too hard for black students-a lawsuit about a white student who did not make the cutoff for admission to the school. “Maybe it ought to have fewer”, Scalia continued.
Yahoo News reporter Liz Goodwin tweeted Scalia’s quote and pointed to an amicus curiae brief filed in the University of Texas case that she said she believed Scalia had been citing.
Scalia’s view is also notably at odds with most Americans, who see affirmative action programs as a “good thing” at a rate of 2-to-1, according to the Pew Center for Research.
“Oh yeah…?” tweeted Case Western Reserve history and politics professor Peter A. Schulman, responding to Scalia’s claim that most black scientists don’t come from prestigious schools. Conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, raised the possibility of the case being sent back to a lower court for more evidence to be admitted.
In 1978, the Supreme Court imposed limitations on affirmative action to ensure that racial majorities did not suffer reverse discrimination, but it was upheld within universities.
After a comment like this, Court watchers will really be looking forward to his opinion in the case. “What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?” he asked.
Critics, though, point out that the percentages of African American, Latino and Native American students plummeted at the University of California’s Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses and at the University of MI, after laws took effect banning race-based affirmative action.
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“I am confident after hearing the arguments this morning that the justices will continue to recognize the incredible value of diversity in an educational environment and our holistic review is critical to achieve that”, Fenves said.
