Sotomayor Racist?
Isn't it just amazing how so many conservative columnists and talk radio hosts are suddenly outraged by racism? Editorial writers and politicians who have never before joined the battle against racism are suddenly speaking out! And why?
...Is it because they are sick and tired of the fact that white women and people of color get paid significantly less money for the exact same work and educational levels as white men?
... Is it because they are sick and tired of Latina women earning only 72 percent of what white women earn, and only 57.8 percent of white men?
...Is it because the poverty rate for Black and Hispanic children is triple that of white children?
....Is it because the current recession is disproportionately effecting Black and Hispanic families and sharply increasing the unemployment gap?
No! No! No! and No! While these problems and many more have continued for decades, without nary a peep from these fine gentlemen, what is it that has finally shaken them to their core and made them realize racism is a serious moral problem worth speaking out and fighting against? It is a single comment made by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor explaining that she "would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
The nerve! How could she?
Let's look at those words one more time. She did not say a wise Latina woman WOULD reach a better conclusion. She tentatively HOPED; and HOPED that someone with this kind of experience might make a better decision not ALL THE TIME, simply MORE OFTEN THAN NOT.
And we are asked to imagine how a white man would be attacked for saying the same sort of thing. The problem is, it is not the same sort of thing.
Let me share an analogy that puts this whole issue into some perspective. There is an educational activity I have participated in, sometimes called the "Race for the American Dream." Participants start out standing along a horizontal line in the middle of the room, all facing the front. We are then asked to take a step forward or backwards after each item in a series of prompts is read. Participants respond to a long list of statements such as:
"If every US president and vice president has been of your race (or gender)" take a step forward...
"If people of your race (or gender) were ever systematically denied entry to colleges, law schools or medical schools because of their race/gender" take a step backward....
No matter how many times I have seen this activity carried out, the results are the same. You guessed it, the white men end up right at the front of the room, sometimes with their noses up against the wall. I usually end with most of the other white women, somewhere in the middle, and the people of color end up somewhere near the back. Even when issues of socioeconomic class are added in, the results don't vary much. This activity mirrors the effects of hundreds of years of race and gender inequality in our society, where unfortunately we are still not starting on an even playing field; some of us are starting with a huge leg up.
What I have always remembered most about this activity is when one person asked us to stop and take a look at what we could see from where we were standing. What do those at the front of the room see? They see others like themselves standing along side them. It is those standing furthest back in the room have the most expansive field of vision.
And this is what Sotomayor's comment is getting at, and those guys at the front of the room have had their vision narrowed for so long they just can't see the whole picture. When you start out with two strikes against you, forced to confront both race and gender inequality, prejudice, and very real, ongoing discrimination, you have a much larger view of how things operate. You have no choice but to learn to shift among cultures, to learn to fit in and see the world as the dominant culture does. Dr. Patricia Hill Collins, President of the American Sociological Association, calls this the "Outsider Within." When you are an outsider within, you learn to see the world from multiple perspectives. Those of us in the dominant culture do not have to learn to see the world from other perspectives--our very limited perspective determines the rules of the game.
This also really drives home exactly why we need more diverse voices on the Supreme Court. White men are a minority of the population, yet hold seven of the nine seats. Even before her nomination was announced, the conservative pundits were preparing their responses, outraged that Obama might proactively seek out the voices of women, and even worse, apparently, women of color. Why don't we turn those tables for a moment -- just imagine if seven of the Supreme Court Justices, just like the majority of the population, were women? Would anyone argue against the value of including men's voices?
The fact that these conservative politicians and commentators don't even see racism unless they feel it is directed against them is precisely why we need the voices of women of color on the court, and all the support we need for Sotomayor's conclusion.
And I am willing to take Sotomayor's comments one step further. I not only hope, but expect, that more often than not a wise woman of color will reach a better conclusion than a white man, or white woman for that matter (there are of course always exceptions, such as Justice Thomas, and you can bet the Republicans will always find them).
It is a sign of how much these white men don't get it, that this is the instance of "racism" they are up in arms about. When these same writers and politicians start to actively speak out about the entrenched and pervasive race and gender inequality in the U.S., then maybe they will then deserve to be taken seriously on the subject of racism.
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Reading the entire speech, it sounds to me like she was talking about making 'better conclusions' in decisions of race and sex discrimination, not about all decisions. Obviously, because the quote is taken out of context, it's going to lead people to think that she's saying her background and experience make her a better judge in all situations. But her point was like saying musicians make better music competition judges, or ex-players make better coaches. Who would argue with that?
when i started going to the big white school from the 3room 1-8grade community black school in 1965 it really sucked.majority of whites didn't want us there.most of the teachers weren't fond of intergration many had no problem letting you know in a round about way however it was the law so they did their jobs.most of us learned to get along,,most of the teachers came around we learned to tolorate each other.some actually accepted each other.things changed about grade6 i didn't realize it at the time but alot of these teachers even the bigots were teaching me things that would register for the rest of my life.oh!but the ones that weren't bigots that treated all with respect.they are the shining stars.its those shining stars that make all the difference in life.the ones that bring you through just people serving each other well.times have changed;eveyone hasn't changed with them.so who cares its the real people that make life precious.the abbrazive ones they sand you down and make you smoother.so don't let them rub you raw.
Yes, anyone can be a racial bigot and we should not discount or condone prejudiced remarks made by people of color toward “white” people or towards other people of color. However, with very few exceptions, people of color do not have the power or institutional support to act on their bigoted beliefs. Any kind of racial bigotry is wrong. But we must recognize that those with the most power in any given institution (whether it be the media, education, healthcare, etc.) for the most part are still upper class “white” men. This situation is a result of past discrimination and because we have never effectively dealt with it (backlash to the Civil Rights Movement reversed many of the gains made), it continues to exist today. Now, this does not ignore the fact that working class and low-income “white” people do face barriers, but these individuals also have privileges over low-income people of color. We must be honest about the realities of racism and other systems of oppression rather than deny them if we are to see real change.
What I find truly astounding is how Sotomayer's appointment appears in the media "child of immigrants..." - um, being a Canadian, we really only learned American history when I was in school and I am pretty sure that with the exception of Native Americans, everyone is the child/grandchild/great grandchild/etc of immigrants but I do not recall that ever being the headline for any other appointments in the USA.
Sotomayer's comments are not racist, they are the truth - at best, her comment was discriminatory. Non-White people do not have the power to be racist - Jensen (2005), a White anti-racist, writes, "racism is typically distinguished from mere prejudice in terms of power. Prejudice - negative or hostile attitudes toward members of a group based on some shared trait, perceived or real - becomes racism when one group has the power to systematically deprive the members of another group of rights and privileges that should come with citizenship and/or being a human being" (p.16).
Sonia is going to be one voice - she needs everyone's support to be able to make the kind of difference that could narrow the gaps in the disparities and inequities that Ferber quoted. The real truth is that White people don't like to have their privilege shoved in their face by non-White people - privilege bestowed on the backs of people like Sonia and Barrack...
Thanks for your excellent comments Abby!
It's worse than that. Puerto Rico is a US territory. How can you immigrate from a part of your own country? Of course, the know-nothings see all HIspanics as illegal aliens; they actually forget that we captured Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War. She is not the child of immigrants; her parents were US citizens by birth.
They are projecting
Stand with Sotomayor
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/sotomayorstand
Sotomayer in Context
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/sotomayor-in-context.html
Judge Sotomayor’s Appellate Opinions in Civil Cases
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/judge-sotomayors-appellate-opinions-in-civil-cases/
See Leonard Zeskind's Profile
Abby Ferber, as usual, hits the nail right on its head. The opposition to the Sotomayor nomination will be rooted in the unstated assumptions of white and male privelege. Those of us who care about building a more just society should pay attention to this opposition to see if, where, when and how it gets any traction. Thanks for taking the time to write this, Abby.
Leonard Zeskind
I would prefer to think of it in terms of child-rearing. It's a "teachable moment", a time when an issue/controversy is raised and since people are conscious of it and hopefully thinking about it, a lesson can be learned.
How to best approach people who are so angry and get them to understand is another matter ...
I guess the old standby is to attempt to have them put themselves in the other's shoes.
Sadly, many lack the ability or motivation or both to do this.
Dear Huffers,
We hear a great deal about the "Rule of Law" and that we can or cannot do this or that because of the Rule of Law.
The Rule of Law is an ideal that has never existed. If we say today that we need judges of a certain background, then we acknowledge that we have not had the ROL in the past. If we say we are going to have judges with specific "experiences" or backgrounds, then we will not have the ROL in the future.
wsa
I think Feber's litmus test stinks! Feber is playing a racism card herself by selecting questions which surprise! always lead to the same conclusion. Nothing like a stacked deck to make your point. If we continue to allow our past to define who we are we will never be able to change our future. Obama has said as much himself. Go back and listen to his race speech. He says times have changed though those from 50's civil movement are locked in a belief system which hasn't changed. Feber, how about asking questions like ... Were your ancestors white trash from the dust bowl era? Were your ancestors every discriminated for their religious beliefs? WE ARE ALL VICTIMS somewhere in our lives. Denying that white people can experience disadvantage and discrimination is RACIST! I joined the Army in the 70's when it was 70% black. Many times I was called a 'white b###t" for expressing an opinion and many times almost got my a## kicked because of my skin color. Racism knows no color. And btw ... I do not think Sotomajor's statement was racist. We are all a sum total of our experiences in life. It shapes how we show up in the world, no doubt.
You actually bolstered her point. Not knowingly, but decisively. If you had any or the experience of being victimized, you would not ask the simple-minded questions that dot your response. It really is not very becoming, you know.
Perhaps you read and did not hear my message. Your words made no sense to me. I was victimized by blacks because I was white. My experience is that some minorities cannot see the mirror being held up to their face. Some of the most racist people I know are minorities individuals. Victimizing white men only perpetuates the shadow onto others and someone needs to stand up for them. Stereotyping is NOT OK! Who are you going to blame when white men are no longer the majority, huh? (2050)
When all you can see is being a victim then the universe will send you victimhood. See, I've transcended victimhood and I REFUSE to let it define me. I refuse to believe I am disadvantaged because I am a women. I was the first female engineer in several high-tech companies. I was in the first platoon of women in an all male Army. I was the first woman in an all male truck platoon.
btw .. One should not make assumptions because that just makes them an a##. Calling me simple-minded is lame. I'll match my graduate degrees to yours any day.
Is she a racist? I doubt it. Did she make a racist statement, absolutely.
She basically said, because of my background as a latina, I will make better decisions than a white man.
Just reverse the language people.
Because of my experiences as a white man in Chicago, I will make better decisions than a black man from Harlem.
Both are racist statements and she needs to explain that.
I consider myself to be a center-left liberal, but white-guilt ridden liberals need to stop apologizing for mistakes that occurred in our history. They need to stop allowing non-whites to get away with racially insensitive language, and then apologize for it because the poverty rate for blacks and Hispanics is higher.
Seriously people, racism on any count is just wrong.
I had the same reaction as you initially, but have you read the entire quote??
She followed the statement with
"“Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown.”
Wow, that was long quote, but I don't think it should necesarrly absolve her. We do not tend to be so generous from the other side when they make this kind of mistake. Of course, I don't think her comments means much, this is just part of what women are allowed to say. The same way anyone can say in pulbic women should be in charge becase they are smater than men and there won't be any repercution (people wil probably clap), hell I have heard many news women say this and even politicians. At one point, women will have start to be careful about comments like these, maybe that time is comming. Looks like polical correctness is starting to apply to everyone, not just white males.(not being a white male, this PC thing for everyone kind of sucks now that I think about it, I like being politically incorrect :(
Newt Gingrich denounces racism. It's like a tabloid headline.
As a white male, I am sick and tired of the same tirade that has been going on for the last sixty years. White males are the only target group around for affirmative action quotas to blame for all their own short commings and deficiencies as it is easier to whine than to get off your own butt and do something for yourself. That takes some work!
Your rant is exactly why Affirmative Action is needed. Even with hard work, a minority will never receive equality with someone like you because of your own stereotypical beliefs about minorities. Did you read the article? If so, please read it again. Affirmative Action will always be needed if people with your beliefs and attitude continue to exist.
what you mean really is that AA may still be needed because of the structural biases and inequities in our society which continue to give some greater opportunities because of accidents of birth.
Surely someone must have pointed out the famous bias tests:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/
Take the test, educate yourself about your own internal, unconscious biases.
Then, come back and discuss.
First, I suggest that you read Allan Johnson's book "Privilege, Power, and Difference." Second, it's important, you being a white male, that you realize that you need not feel guilty about being white and male, and being a part of any other privileged and dominate group. The importance here is that you recognize your un-earned privileges and instead of using them to worsen another populations situation, it is important that you recognize the differences of privilege and try to be part of the solution instead of the problem.
People who believe in the old-fashioned saying of the "American Dream" believe that "if you work hard, you will be successful and obtain the level of power, status, and athority in which you desire. But what about a single mother raising two children, who works two full-time jobs. She obviously works very hard, but considering the jobs she probably works, regardless of race, no matter how hard she works and how many hours she puts in, it is unlikely that she will have a two story house with a white picked fence around it. Then if we were to hypothetically consider her as a person of color, who was already born into a lower class, how could we expect that if she works hard, she would in any way have the ability or access to the same levels of attainment as a white middle-class (born) female?
Yes greyhound2, white males are being used as a scapegoat for the sins of our fathers and you are justified in your anger. It is not a rant, it is real. White guilt as a source of social movement has failed as a policy. Just like affirmative action, it dates back to the 50's and 60's (i.e. If you don't feel guilty then you are a racist). What is showing up is locus-of-control. The white culture has a predominant strong internal locus-of-control belief system. 'I control my destiny." Many minority cultures have a predominant external locus-of-control belief system. "I do not control my destiny, someone else does." The shadow side of external locus of control is blame and guess who the target is? Yes, you. Please realize greyhound2, it's not about you. You have been totally objectified by people like Naked Truth. I admire the Obama's because they are trying to infuse an internal locus-of-control within various minority groups through words and action. Until people like Ferber realize that they are partly responsible for creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, we will not move past where we are stuck. A new generation is speaking out and not buying into the limitations of the past. Just remember there is a payoff being had here.
White males are not "being used as scapegoats", they are the actual perpetrators. Tell me, what do Newt, Rush, Beck, Cheney all have in common?
Minorities and women have an "external locus of control" belief system because they were and often still are controlled by external forces. It's not some fantasy of theirs, it's their daily experience. Playing the "blame the victim" game is about excusing the victimizers, nothing more.
What you feel being singled out by race and gender is precisely what others have felt all their lives. You are just being treated the same, rather than as members of a privileged group. If women and people of color are supposed to get over it, I'm sure you can, too.
Let's see you support Sotomayor with enthusiasm - prove you are not racist and sexist first, then we can all move forward together. Work for equal pay for Latina women, how about that? Until then you're just whining about being controlled by outside forces. Welcome to the club!
Excellent!!
There are so many goodies in here, I would end up just copy-and-pasting the entire piece.
My favorites?
"these conservative politicians and commentators don't even see racism unless they feel it is directed against them is precisely why we need the voices of women of color on the court"
"It is a sign of how much these white men don't get it, that this is the instance of "racism" they are up in arms about. "
Old white men screaming about racism..... I can onlly shake my head.
All this ballyhohoho from the illiberals (quit using the term conservatives- it is a gross malapropism as these ultra-right wingers seldom "conserve" anything) over Sotomayor is just plain rich!
Along with the vilification of useful and positive terms like "liberal," "diversity" and "tolerance" we now have the demonization of the empathetic; demonized by the pathetic anti-inteligencia, no less.
The spectre of Newt Gingrich denouncing Sotomayor as a racist is just plain hysterical. This is Mr. Covenant with (White) America from the Georgia Republicrat wing of his party- the spiritual heirs to the Dixiecrats/Segregationists (Trent Lott was cashiered for noting this precisely because his salute to them was spot on.) Gingrich, the great consolidator of Nixon's Southern Strategy and Reagans white-flight blue collars coopted by the Corporativists Blue Bloods, is a fine one to talk about racism .
And let us not forget the party of "Willie Horton"- only one of hundreds of coded racist campaign Republicanards that took the white supremesist movement to a new subliminal low.
The party of race baiters and empathy haters like Lee Atwater and Karl Rove is dying and we can only expect new acts of desparation and vitiriol from their spiritual leader, Rush Limbaugh and such ilk.
All and all, we are winning this fight and making strives in the larger historic movement to end racism by smoking out the Rebel flag waving remnants of our racist past with nominations like this one.
Keep em comin, Obama!
I feel this is a non issue, of course we are shaped by our ethnicity,race, and life experiences.
the whole speech was on gender and race in the legal realm, of course women and/or people of color are going to view those cases differently than white males.
Let me quote her:
Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society.
another one:
I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group.
------------------------------------
Conversation over
Quotas are needed!!!!!!!!!!!
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