Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito appeared to troll a lawyer defending affirmative action during oral hearings for a major case that could upend the race-based admissions system.
The high court is hearing oral arguments challenging race-based affirmative action at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Edward Blum, an anti-affirmative action activist, argued that the University of North Carolina discriminates against white and Asian-Americans while Harvard’s affirmative action is discriminatory toward Asian-Americans, according to Reuters.
The suits were originally filed in 2014, with one accusing Harvard of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin. The University of North Carolina was accused of violating the 14th Amendment, according to Reuters. The challengers argue admissions should be colorblind. (RELATED: ZHAO: Fix K-12 Education And Stop Scapegoating Asian Americans!)
“The assumption that race necessarily informs something about anyone’s qualifications is antithetical to this court’s precedents and to our Constitution,” Patrick Strawbridge argued, according to Reuters.
Alito appeared to troll those defending affirmative action during the oral arguments.
“It’s family lore that we have an ancestor who was an American Indian,” Alito began.
“So I think in that particular circumstance it would be not accurate for them to say-” North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park interjected.
“I identify as an American Indian because I have always been told that some ancestor back in the old days was an American Indian,” Alito continued.
Justice Alito: “I identify as an American Indian because I have always been told that some ancestor back in the old days was an American Indian.” pic.twitter.com/HV5mFjEL4T
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 31, 2022
“Yeah so I think in that circumstance it would be very unlikely that that person was telling the truth, and this seems true for, we rely on self reporting for all the other demographics and characteristics that we asked for and there’s nothing special about the racial identification on that score,” Park said.
Alito also said that “college admissions are a zero-sum game,” according to Reuters. “And if you give a ‘plus’ to a person who falls within the category of under-represented minority, but not to somebody else, then you are disadvantaging the other student.”
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh added that “these racial classifications are potentially dangerous and must have a logical end point,” according to Reuters.