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UT Professor Lino Graglia Stands By Controversial Race Comments


A University of Texas law professor, under fire for a radio comment about affirmative action and minority students, discussed his statement with KEYE TV news.

Professor Lino Graglia says he did an interview with BBC Radio several months ago although it just aired this week.

He told BBC Radio that black and Hispanic students' low test scores are because he could "hardly imagine a less beneficial ... experience than to be raised by a single parent, usually female, uneducated and without a lot of money."

Wednesday Graglia said, "the grim fact that is at the basis of this and all our racial problems is that the average black 12th grader performs at the level of the average white 8th grader in reading and math. This raised problems about how and when you get into selected institutions of higher education."     

Graglia said he is often asked what causes the gap.

"I always say, 'I don't know.' I'm not an educational expert. I'm a lawyer. But when pressed on this, I assume the fact that some three-quarters of black children today are born out of a traditional marriage, typically to a single woman, uneducated, without a lot of funds…. Studies I read say this is very disadvantageous to doing well in school."

The League of United Latin American Citizens has asked for Graglia to resign.

See the raw interview here.