During Supreme Court hearing on affirmative action, Justice Scalia claims that 'most black scientists in the U.S.' benefit from not being admitted into top programs
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Alex Wong/Getty Images ‘Most of the black scientists in this country do not come from the most advanced schools,’ Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a noted opponent of affirmative action said, according to reporters present for the case.
What a supremely outrageous thing to say.
During oral arguments in a critical case about affirmative action Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that "most black scientists in the U.S." benefit from not being admitted into top-tier programs.
"They're being pushed into schools that are too advanced for them," Scalia said of African-American students accepted under affirmative action programs.
"Most of the black scientists in this country do not come from the most advanced schools," Scalia, a noted opponent of affirmative action said, according to reporters present for the case.
Scalia added that many such African-American scientists actually benefitted from a "slower track."
"It does not benefit African-Americans" who don't succeed academically in schools that accepted them under affirmative action policies, he reportedly said.
The case in front of the Supreme Court, Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin, was brought by a white Texas woman who is challenging the use of race in college admissions. It is the second time in three years that the High Court has heard her case.
Abigail Fisher, the woman bringing the case, has been out of college since 2012, but the justices' renewed interest in her case is a sign that the court's conservative majority is poised to cut back, or even end, affirmative action in higher education.
Their skepticism about it was on display during more than 90 minutes in a packed courtroom.
"What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?" Chief Justice John Roberts asked at one point, challen
