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Antonin Scalia trends after comments on affirmative action
The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in an important case on affirmative action at universities.
Affirmative action is the practice of improving educational opportunities for members of groups that were not treated fairly in the past because of race, gender or other factors.
This case is debating whether race-based affirmative action at universities is legal under the U.S. Constitution.
During oral arguments on the case Wednesday, Justice Antonin Scalia questioned the benefit of admitting more African-American students to elite colleges.
He went on to say that most black scientists in this country have come “from lesser schools, where they don’t feel that they’re being pushed ahead – in classes that are too – too fast for them.”
His comments sent social media into a heated debate.
The editor of Essence magazine tweeted: "If I listened to #Scalia I never would have applied to and graduated from 2 Ivy League schools. This level of ignorance is dangerous.”
At the same time #Scalia trended on Twitter in the United States, #13thamendment was also a trending topic. The U.S. marked the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment with a ceremony Wednesday at the Capitol building. The 13th amendment formally abolished slavery.
Twitter user sojochick wrote, “ I saw #13thAmendment and Scalia trending and figured Scalia wants to repeal it. Turns out, not that far off.”
More Trump comparisons go viral
Yesterday, the Philadelphia Daily News compared Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
Now, British author JK Rowling has compared Trump to her character Voldemort in Harry Potter. She posted on Twitter: “How horrible. Voldemort was nowhere near as bad.”
Trump said earlier this week he would ban all Muslims from entering the United States to protect the country from terrorist attacks. American and world leaders have criticized Trump’s statement.
Rowling’s post has been retweeted over 180,000 times.
An online petition to block Trump from entering the United Kingdom has been signed more than 200,000 times since Tuesday.
And a university in Scotland revoked the honorary degree it awarded Trump in 2010. Robert Gordon University posted on Facebook Wednesday that Trump has “made a number of statements that are wholly incompatible” with the university’s values.
The Scottish government also stripped Trump from his title as “GlobalScot” ambassador for promoting Scottish business.
Trump’s mother was Scottish.
After the announcements, ‘Scotland’ trended on Facebook Wednesday.
Angela Merkel named TIME’s person of the year
TIME magazine announced that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is its 2015 Person of the Year.
TIME praised the German leader for her leadership during the Greek debt crisis and the arrival of immigrants from Syria and the Middle East to Europe.
Merkel is the first woman in 29 years to earn the Person of the Year title.
Words in This Story
benefit - n. a good or helpful result or effect
elite - adj. superior to the rest in terms of quality
heated - adj. marked by excited or angry feelings
ratifaction - n. the official way to confirm something (such as a treaty or agreement)
honorary - adj. given as a sign of honor or achievement
strip - v. to take (something) away from someone