Scalia has me on Level 10 of Pissivity

I am pissed off.

I try not to write when I am pissed because it usually produces a self-indulgent, half-sensical piece, so I waited to write about this – in hopes that I would calm down.  Unfortunately, I am still pissed-off to the highest level of pissivity.  If there were a pissivity chart, I would be at level 5.

1 = I feel fine.

2 = I am slightly annoyed.

3 = I better take a few deep breaths, do some yoga or drink a glass of wine.

4 = I am bona fide angry.  Somebody come get me.

5 = No a MF did NOT.  Somebody come get him before I catch a charge.

Justice Scalia has me angrier than a bull that has lost his balls.  There is something fundamentally wrong when a man who believes an entire race of people is inferior to White people is able to rise to the level to sit on the bench of the nation’s highest court.  There is something wrong that a Supreme Court Justice is racist.  There is something even more wrong when a Supreme Court Justice is racist and has no problem voicing his bigotry on the record.  How in the %$#@ is that okay?  Our country wants to impeach President Clinton for having sex outside of his marriage (which, frankly, had not a damn thing to do with his job); but the world is comfortable with the man who will make life-changing, world-shaping, century-lasting decisions and who states that he thinks 12% of the United States population is inferior?

I don’t get it.  Has the United States become that comfortable with racism?  Has bigotry against Black people become background noise—something you don’t even hear unless someone calls your attention to it?

My bet is that if a judge on “American Idol” or “The Voice” came out and said the he thought that all country music was trash, there would be outrage; the judge would be immediately fired; and there would be statements from the network about its policy of being inclusive to all types of music and artists.

But with Scalia- it’s only Black folks – so it’s background noise.

[bctt tweet=”Do people not understand that Scalia is essentially promoting segregation and separate education?”] He stated:

“I’m just not impressed by the fact that the University of Texas may have fewer (African-Americans),” Scalia said, in part.  “Maybe it ought to have fewer.  And maybe some — you know, when you take more, the number of blacks, really competent blacks, admitted to lesser schools, turns out to be less.”

“There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans 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,” Scalia said, according to the court transcript. “One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas.”

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The brief Scalia referred to said, “Students with an interest in science who are admitted to a very competitive school via a large preference tend to drop out of the sciences at a much higher rate than do otherwise similar students who attend somewhat less competitive programs.”  “Competition mismatch appears to be a major factor in the low rate at which African-American students become scientists, despite high levels of interest in the sciences,” it said.  In other words, Black people are not intelligent enough to be successful at prestigious colleges and universities.

This is the type of prejudice that leads to separate schools, separate education, and a need for Brown vs. The Board of Education.  His thinking is a throwback to the 50’s and 60’s when Blacks were seen as less so were given less.  It’s frightening.

His argument is also just wrong.  In fact, many black scientists do come from prestigious schools.  The National Science Foundation information counters Scalia’s assertions on the number of black science and engineering graduates from top baccalaureate-origin institutions.

And let’s discuss the case about which Scalia was speaking.  Poor little Abby is upset that she didn’t get into University of Texas in 2008 and claims that it’s because a Black person took her spot.  She says in her video that she’s wanted to go to University of Texas since she was in 2nd grade and that her dad and sister went there, and waahh, waahh, poor me.  Being White in this country is so hard!  Tears!  Tears! Bottom line: Abby felt entitled.

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Now the real jacked up thing about this case is that Abigail didn’t get in to the University of Texas because she wasn’t good enough to get in.  Two court cases have proven this, but Abigail isn’t satisfied and is whining all the way to the Supreme Court.  When Abigail applied to go to UT, the university filled 92 percent of its in-state entering freshman class with students in its Top 10 Program (students who were in the top 10% of all high schools in Texas).  Abby didn’t qualify for this.  Did you hear that—she was NOT in the top 10% of her high school (yet she is so fucking deserving—right?).  For the remaining 8 percent of in-state spots, UT used a comprehensive approach that weighed grades and test scores along with essays, leadership, activities, service to the community, and “special circumstances,” such as race, school quality, and family background.  Of the 841 students admitted under these criteria, only 47 had worse AI/PAI scores (a combination of the holistic measures of grades and test scores) than Abigail, and 42 of those students were white.  On the other hand, UT rejected 168 black and Latino students with scores equal to or better than Abby’s.  In other words, Abigail is the Susan Smith of education: the Black people didn’t do it to her no matter how much she insists that they did.

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So why in the hell is this girl—no, this now 23-year-old woman—still whining?!  Her story fits racist’s dogma, so that machine will encourage her and finance her.  You can’t blame them, can you—look around—Black people really are taking these poor White people’s spots in colleges, graduate schools and as CEOs in corporations, top management positions, in Silicon Valley tech ventures and all local governments (please know that this statement is soaked with sarcasm).  Are they fucking serious?  How can people live in the same country as I live in and even utter the terms, “black privilege”, “reverse racism”, and “unfair advantage”?  How?   These terms suddenly gain relevancy when one White girl doesn’t get her way (do you know how many people get rejection letters?  Also please note, the University offered her admission to a satellite location with the opportunity to transfer to UT Austin the following year — she declined).

What’s even more ridiculous about Abigail’s and her supporters’ fight against Affirmative Action is that study after study has proven that Affirmative Action has benefited White women disproportionally to people of color.  According to one study, in 1995, 6 million women, the majority of whom were white, had jobs they wouldn’t have otherwise held but for affirmative action.

So, this country has a Supreme Court Justice, the highest court in our country, who is blatantly racist voicing his opinion that an entire race of people would be best served by lesser advanced schools and no one says a word, not even our Black President?  Sure Black Twitter has had some fun, but the country as a whole has been overwhelmingly silent.  We are so used to this “Blackground noise.”  But let one lone White woman — who has whined for 7 years, to 3 different courts about not getting into the school she “dreamed of going to” – continue to whine and she gets a national platform.

Yeah, I am pissed off passed the point of pissedivity.  Revise that Level 5 and put me at Level 10.

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5 Responses

  1. Well said, and AMEN! And, I’d have to say that you’re doing well if you’re only at 10, as I’m well above 10 — hovering above 100! What I can’t believe is that no one is calling him out on this, but saying the old standby – he didn’t mean it that way or he’s not racist! You’ve done what I could not – put into words the anger and the outrageousness of it all. And as for the young woman – ’nuff said!

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About Randi B.

Randi is a diversity and inclusion strategist, speaker, trainer and writer, focusing on making connections and cultivating empathy in this diverse world one trip, speech, article, book and conversation at a time.

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