The headline is paraphrased but just barely.
The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments that could decide the fate of affirmative action in America and, in a development that will surprise very few of you, Justice Antonin Scalia reportedly shared a few deeply racist thoughts in the court room.
Referencing an unidentified amicus brief, Scalia said that there were people who would contend "that it does not benefit African-Americans" who don't do well in the schools that accept them under affirmative action, and that those students would be better off in the less advanced schools that they would have otherwise gone to.
He argued that "most of the black scientists in this country do not come from the most advanced schools" and that they benefit from a "slower track."
"They're being pushed into schools that are too advanced for them," Scalia said of minority students accepted under affirmative action programs.
When the Supreme Court struck down portions of the Voting Rights Act we were assured that racism is over but Justice Scalia is living proof that it isn't.
The case against affirmative action was filed by a white woman who was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin. The idea is that she was denied admission because affirmative action dictated that a slot she could have filled was occupied by a undeserving minority student, but the truth is she wouldn't have qualified even if she personally benefited from affirmative action.
Fisher failed to graduate in the top 10 percent of her class, meaning she had to compete for the limited number of spaces up for grabs.
She and other applicants who did not make the cut were evaluated based on two scores. One allotted points for grades and test scores. The other, called a personal achievement index, awarded points for two required essays, leadership, activities, service and "special circumstances." Those included socioeconomic status of the student or the student's school, coming from a home with a single parent or one where English wasn't spoken. And race.
Those two scores, combined, determine admission.
Even among those students, Fisher did not particularly stand out. Court records show her grade point average (3.59) and SAT scores (1180 out of 1600) were good but not great for the highly selective flagship university. The school's rejection rate that year for the remaining 841 openings was higher than the turn-down rate for students trying to get into Harvard.
As a result, university officials claim in court filings that even if Fisher received points for her race and every other personal achievement factor, the letter she received in the mail still would have said no.
The entire case is a farce, but I suppose that shouldn't come as a surprise. The latest case against Obamacare was predicated on the idea that a single word in a single sentence nullified a significant portion of the law.
Justice Scalia singled out black students in his remarks, but affirmative action applies to all minorities and disadvantaged groups. Ending it could have far-reaching consequences.