National Review Perplexingly Depicts Sotomayor As Asian

Good gravy, have you all seen the cover that the good people from the Journal of Lowered Expectations known as the National Review have put together? Courtesy of Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler, BEHOLD!

Yes. It seems that the National Review has confused their ethnic stereotypes, or their religions, or maybe they just wanted some sort of two-fer, because their "Wise Latina" cover story presents Sotomayor as an Asian, in some sort of Buddhist pose.

Anyway, the good news is this will surely provide a excellent P.R. opportunity to Puerto Rico's little talked-about Buddhist community.

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Comments

[afrographia]

I don't think the cover is so much racist as it is indicative that non-ethnically identified white folks are fixated on her Latina identity. Let me explain, before some of the knee-jerk neoliberals and conservatives on here respond with, "Hey, she's the one who called herself a 'wise Latina.' " Yes, she did. First, if you haven't read the full context of that quotation, your protest about this is baseless and intellectually lazy.

But you also do not understand that for many Latino/as, Jewish folks, Black folks, Viet folks, Cajun folks, Italian folks, cultural identity and community IS a source of joy and pride, and often has been necessary just to stay alive. However, just because we talk about it, and live in it, and identify with it, does not mean that we do not ALSO identify as "human," as members of the human race. But SOME white folks are fixated on it, so that if we talk about our cultural identities 5% or 10% or 20% of the time, that becomes all they see of us, and they take every opportunity to make racial connections. I could pick my nose, and SOME white folks would interpret that as me being Black, instead of me just being gross... thus gross gets conflated with Black... Sotomayor rules on tax law: some folks want to see the "Latina-ness" in it! LOL

[Whycee54]

This goes to show the total ignorance of America. We don't know the difference between an ethic group and a race. Use Google, PEOPLE, and learn something. 3 races... Latina and Asian are the same race but not the same ethnic group. We didn't pay much attention in Social Studies did we?ANYWAY.. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? The woman is well qualified for the position. ADMIT IT, Barack Obama knows what he is doing and let him do it. We all may come out on top.

[Intelligentia]

First, what is a Latina? Is Latina a race the same way some people believe that Hispanic is a race? Is it the same way people think that every Jew is a semite? Or, the same way people do not know that many Arabs, like Palestinians are semites? By the way, who decides who belongs to which race? Nobody has the right to classify anyone as this race or that race, but we are stuck with the idiosyncracies of racial classifications. By the way race is social, not a biological construct. Social studies (I mean the unadulterated one, not the propaganda spewed in American classrooms) should have thought that.

[Pleneras]

Sociology and science will tell you there is no such thing as race.

[GardenerNorCal]

I think it's simply an attempt to paint her as not like us. Much like they tried with Obama and look how well that served them. Continually the republicans fail to learn from their past mistakes.

[vgirl1]

Whatever the National Review editors and writers were thinking in putting this cover together they shouldn't have.

Again, when something is supposed to be satire but requires one to overly think or to have to shift into overtime to find the meaning then it is not satire. It is just plain misguided and, more often than not, a display of poor judgement..

National Review you missed the mark here, BIG TIME..

[BumpyKnight]

Enlightened constructionist maybe? This cover must scare the daylights out of those who believe that the words in the constitution can think for themselves.

[ImJustSaying007]

Rethugs ................Rest.....................in.................G......................O.........................PEACE

[Mustang Sally]

PR's little talked about Buddist community - you never fail to entertain!

[hmp49]

Would you be upset with a cover portraying a white in a Buddha pose? Unless the answer is no, the writer is the the one defined by their perception of race, not National Review.

For that matter, what would your reaction be if I said "I would hope that a wise Jewish child of Holocaust survivors with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Christian who hasn't lived that life."

I would think that would be a dealbreaker, as it should be. The law is the law, and it should be blind. We're not talking about a therapist, we're talking about a Supreme Court judge.

[nowRnever]

Not a fan of the NR, but wouldn't anyone caricatured as Buddha be depicted as Asian?

[DomainDiva]

Opinions differ from racist to insensitive to no big deal, but what we MAY all say is that the national review (caps omitted purposely) has now become the standard bearer for extremely bad taste. Why anyone would spend money to purchase or waste time to read is beyond me.

[henrypapillon]

It must be derogatory, or they would have depicted her as a Magi. In the Right Wing view , anything but Christian is heretic.

[white mende man]

Let's just say National Review will be selling a few more magazines than they otherwise would this month. watch for it on ebay in a few years.

[Mabila]

Whatever it is they are trying to do, they should leave it alone for a while.

Culturally insensitivity is suicide!

[the964kid]

Conservatives are running out of ethnic communities to offend.

[TullyMars]

According to the National Review "they all look the same"...