Justice Thomas is a critic of integration?

NY Times:

When Justice Clarence Thomas provided a pivotal vote last month as the Supreme Court struck down school integration plans in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle, he suggested the concept of integration was inherently demeaning to black children because it implied they needed to mix with whites to achieve excellence.

His comments, including his description of people who promote integration as faddish theorists, demonstrated anew his place as the most influential black voice criticizing the value of integration and affirmative action plans. But as Justice Thomas is also the most intensely scrutinized personality on the court, his comments inevitably raise questions about much his legal views are shaped by the difficulties of his own experience with race and education.

Justice Thomas’s recent opinion on integration has provided fresh material for the rich debate about him among black scholars for whom he has been a fascinating and vexing subject since he was narrowly confirmed to the court in 1991. The renewed discussion also comes at the same time as the publication of a critical biography and not long before his own memoir is set for publication in October.

Kurt L. Schmoke, the dean of the Howard University Law School, said Justice Thomas’s coolness towards integration represented a consistent pattern.

“I don’t see this opinion as signaling any new direction in his thinking,” Mr. Schmoke said in an interview. “But he’s more complex than many have given him credit for in the past. Some might condemn his comments, but others might praise him for reminding us that black kids are bright and work up to expectations.”

Justice Thomas joined in a 5-to-4 majority on June 28 ruling that integration plans put in place by officials in Seattle and Louisville violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. In writing a separate concurrence, he dismissed the notion of the court’s minority that “racially balanced schools improve educational outcomes for black children.” He said that, “In reality, it is far from apparent that coerced racial mixing has any educational benefits, much less that integration is necessary to black achievement.”

...

I don't view his argument as one against integration. He is saying that the "diversity" argument is invalid. It is also insulting to blacks to imply that they cannot achieve without being in a class with non blacks. Thomas makes the case that blacks can achieve great things regardless of where they are educated. What is needed is motivation and self discipline and diversity does not create either of those.