Oral arguments began Monday in a case to determine whether colleges can continue to take race into consideration in the admissions process.
Alito asked North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park — who is defending affirmative action policies at the University of North Carolina
— what is preventing students from claiming heritage they don't have.
"It's family lore that we have an ancestor who was an American Indian," Alito offered.
Park agreed that in that instance, it would not make sense for a student to say they are of American Indian heritage.
Alito replied: "I identify as an American Indian because I've always been told that some ancestor back in the old days was an American Indian."
ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,😂😂😂😂
Park conceded, agreeing that it is unlikely that the student was telling the truth.
Alito appeared to be referring to Warren, who identified herself as an American Indian on a Texas registration card for the State Bar of Texas and in documents while working at Harvard, according to the Washington Post.
Warren made a public apology in 2019 during her run for president after she took a DNA test to prove Indigenous ancestry.
During oral arguments in the affirmative action case at the Supreme Court on Monday, Alito pressed Park on the justification for "lumping together" students from similar racial backgrounds together by having them check a box.
"What is the justification for lumping together students whose families came from Afghanistan with someone with students whose families came from China?" Alito asked.
| 