Clarence Thomas Says He Has No ‘Clue’ What Diversity Means in College Admissions Case

(Bloomberg) -- Justice Clarence Thomas said he doesn’t “have a clue” what diversity means as the Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over eliminating race in college admissions.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Democrats Prepare for Loss of Congress as Voters Break Late to GOP

• Lottery Winner Keeps $30 Million Jackpot Secret From Wife and Child

• China Markets Rally After Unconfirmed Social Posts on Reopening

• Bonds Rally With Powell’s Favored Curve Poised for Inversion

• Many Dry Shampoos Contain Cancer-Causing Agent, Study Shows

“I’ve heard the word diversity quite a few times, and I don’t have a clue what it means,” he told an attorney representing the University of North Carolina who tried to explain the educational benefits of diversity in defending the school’s admissions program.

Thomas, the court’s second Black justice and a longtime affirmative action critic, said he didn’t “put much stock” in North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park’s argument “because I’ve heard similar arguments in favor of segregation too.”

The high court is hearing a pair of challenges Monday to the programs at UNC and Harvard that threaten the future of race-conscious admissions that the justices have upheld over the decades.

Thomas, who was admitted to Yale Law School when it had a robust affirmative action program, has argued that preferences stigmatize Black people. Attending seminaries in the South and The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts before enrolling at Yale, Thomas has said he believes affirmative action diminished his achievements at the Ivy League law school.

“As much as it stung to be told that I’d done well in the seminary despite my race, it was far worse to feel that I was now at Yale because of it,” Thomas wrote in his 2007 memoir, My Grandfather’s Son.

Former President George H.W. Bush bristled at the notion that Thomas’ high-court appointment was race-based, saying he picked “the best man for the job on the merits. And the fact he’s minority, so much the better.”

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Adidas and Ye’s Expensive Split Was a Long Time Coming

• The Fed’s Employment Mandate Takes a Back Seat as It Steps Up Its Inflation Fight

• These Five Women Are Helping Doctors Crack the Long-Covid Mystery

• When Netflix and HBO Turned on Each Other, They Forged a New Era of Television

• Basketball’s Top Shrink on How Finding Purpose Lifts Performance

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.