Moments after the Supreme Court struck down race-based university admissions on Thursday, talking heads at MSNBC tried to dunk on Justice Clarence Thomas and ended up proving the exact point he made in his concurrence. Thomas, the longest-serving member of the current court, joined the rest of the Republican-appointed majority in a 6-3 decision that universities’ use of racial discrimination in admissions to guarantee minority entry is illegal under the 14th Amendment.
“While I am painfully aware of the social and economic ravages which have befallen my race and all who suffer discrimination,” Thomas wrote in his concurring opinion, “I hold out enduring hope that this country will live up to its principles so clearly enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
Among the reasons Thomas concurred with the majority’s ruling to strike down race-based admissions was his rejection of the assumption that race, rather than merit, is the primary driver of success.
“These policies may harm even those who succeed academically,” Thomas wrote. “I have long believed that large racial preferences in college admissions ‘stamp [blacks and Hispanics] with a badge of inferiority.’”
“Consequently, ‘[w]hen blacks’ and, now, Hispanics ‘take positions in the highest places of government, industry, or academia, it is an open question… whether their skin color played a part in their advancement,” he added.
Justice Thomas can write from his own experience. Shortly after the decision was handed down, an exchange on MSNBC proved his case.
“Clarence Thomas, you know, he
