Why Would I Defend Antonin Scalia?

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
(Photo by Stephen Masker) (CC BY) (Resized/Cropped)
That’s the question some “friends” are asking, given the several posts to that effect which I have put up. Here’s your answer, “friends”:
My point about Scalia was that calling him a racist (I have no idea what his motives are, and wonder how anyone else would know) — is a sorry substitute for a refutation of the mismatch hypothesis. I said explicitly in my first comment that I had no brief for his jurisprudence.
But, of course, my own motives in this discussion have been impugned. So, to save you the trouble of guessing, I’ll tip my hand to this extent:
So long as black Americans are dependent on being admitted to the most elite sites of intellectual development in this country based on a lower objective standard of their own prior academic achievement — so long as that is the basis for their/our participation in these institutions — we will not be truly equal participants — no matter how loudly we cry-out about the legacies of white supremacy. I — Glenn Loury — am interested in true equality. I am uninterested in self-righteous moralizing about a judge’s racial etiquette…
Where are the adults in this conversation? Can I be the only one disturbed by the specter of other racial minorities taking the lead and dominating the scene at Cal Tech and MIT and Silicon Valley — based upon their skills, while black Americans are reduced to the position of “competing” by insisting that their presence is required in order to insure “racial diversity”? There is fake power — deriving from one’s ability to throw a fit if one is not “included”; and there is real power, deriving from one’s mastery over the technical material at hand. I — Glenn Loury — prefer to root black American’s standing in real power, not fake power. If that makes me an elitist, then so be it!
For, real power is solid ground from which genuine equality can emerge. While fake power is quicksand, where one’s footing is susceptible to being swept away with the shifting political tides. Real power is rooted in the kind of deep human development which, in the case of black Americans, necessitates facing and overcoming the horrible effects of many generations of racial discrimination. It is worth working towards, and waiting for. Fake power hides from the sad reality of what history has wrought, while making excuses for a non-competitiveness which history has bequeathed us. It is the easy path. But, ultimately, it is rooted in wishful thinking.
And, by the way, the folks running these institutes, making these grants, awarding these Nobel’s, and editing these journals — those folks all know the real deal. They will accommodate demands for “diversity” so as to make the fit-throwers go quietly to their corners, and so as to be free to get on with their real work of discovery, invention and innovation. Affirmative Action is the path of least resistance for them. Developing the latent human talents of a disadvantaged and discriminated against population is time-consuming hard work which they, and (sadly) we, seem eager to avoid. GL
Reprinted from Glenn Loury’s Facebook postings.
Glenn Loury’s homepage and videoblog.
Glenn C. Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences, Brown University
Trending Now on Affluent Christian Investor
Sorry. No data so far.
The Affluent Mix
Biden Oblivious To Illegal Immigration Issues... August 2, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Rob Arnott On Bubbles, Inflation, And Once-In-A-Generation Investment Opportunit... August 2, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

The Federal Reserve’s Massive Theft Of Stability... August 2, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

What To Do About This Difficult Market? August 2, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Letter On The Politicization Of Corporations... July 26, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Peak Of The Fake Bull Market July 26, 2021 | Michael Pento

Woodrow Wilson’s Administrative State vs. Gold... July 26, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Dividends, Energy, And Crypto July 26, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Whose Side Are You On? July 26, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Media, Left Ignore These Dangers July 19, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Mark Skousen On FreedomFest And How To Measure The Whole Economy... July 19, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Quantifying The Quantitative, Or Making Easy The Easing... July 19, 2021 | David Bahnsen

The Gold Standard Means A Rising Standard Of Living... July 19, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Book Review: Brian Domitrovic Reveals The Monetary Genius Of Arthur Laffer... July 19, 2021 | John Tamny

Steve Forbes: Time To Worry About Inflation, Not Hyperinflation... July 12, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

UFOs Rescue Biden July 12, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Read This Classical Economist’s 200 Year Old Warning About Paper Money... July 12, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

How Central Banks Murdered The Markets July 12, 2021 | Michael Pento

Everything There Is To Know About The Stock Market... July 12, 2021 | David Bahnsen

AT&T CEO: We’re Ill Equipped For Politics, And We’re Spending A Lot Of ... July 6, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Internet Bias Distorts National Conversation... July 6, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

The Halfway Point Of 2021 July 6, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.