Lucas, during oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the case of Fisher v. Texas, Justice Antonin Scalia made a plainly racist argument (emphasis ours):
“There are – there are those who contend that it does not benefit
African Americans to to get them into the University of Texas where they
do not do well,
as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a less –
a slower-track school where they do well.
“One of – one of the briefs pointed out that – that
most of the – most of the black scientists in this country don’t
come from schools like the University of Texas.
They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re – that they’re being
pushed ahead in – in classes that are too too fast for
them."
If Justice Scalia is not held accountable for his rhetoric — some
of it blatantly racist and some of it representing coded, dog-whistle
politics that sounds reasonable to some people but sends a very clear
signal of hostility to minorities — that rhetoric will be validated
and used to justify future discrimination. We can’t let Justice
Scalia’s racism go unanswered.
Sign the petition from CREDO and Daily Kos telling your member of Congress
to censure Justice Antonin Scalia.
There are not many sanctions that can be placed on Supreme Court Justices.
They are appointed for life and never have to answer to the American people.
That is why it is so critical that our elected representatives in Congress
speak clearly and with a single voice to show the American people that
they find racism as deplorable as we do.
The only official way for them to do this is with a formal congressional
censure. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has already spoken out to
denounce Scalia’s comments. It’s time for his colleagues to join him
in formally holding Scalia accountable for his racism.
Sign the petition from CREDO and Daily Kos telling your member of Congress
to censure Justice Antonin Scalia.
Keep fighting,
Monique Teal, Daily Kos
Paid for by CREDO