Thomas says Constitution forbids racial preference

WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action.

Thomas, addressing leaders of historically black colleges, said affirmative action

"has become this mantra and there almost has become this secular religiosity about it. I think it almost trumps thinking."

A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said,

"Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we're going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes."

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