Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia issued what’s sure to spark a fury of debate between the warring sides of affirmative action, telling a packed courtroom on Tuesday that the 14th Amendment wasn’t penned simply to protect blacks.

“My goodness, I thought we’ve … held that the 14th Amendment protects all races,” he said. “I mean, that was the argument in the early years, that it protected only … the blacks. But I thought we rejected that. You, you say now that we have to proceed as though its purpose is not to protect whites, only to protect minorities?”

Justice Scalia made the comments in reference to the Supreme Court case about a Michigan voter referendum that banned race as a college admission consideration.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed at odds with Justice Scalia’s assessment of the state backlash against affirmative action.

“It was intended to bring back segregation and appears to have done just that,” she said, The Post reported.

The 14th Amendment grants equal protection to all citizens.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.