Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Sotomayor, Enemy of the White Male

By David Weigel
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 11:55 am

The newest weapon in the conservative pushback against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is an unearthed 2001 “cultural diversity lecture” at the University of California, in which she “hopes 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.” This Saturday column by National Journal’s Stuart Taylor on the speech is making the rounds. Here’s his interpretation of Sotomayor’s thinking:

[U]nless Sotomayor believes that Latina women also make better judges than Latino men, and also better than African-American men and women, her basic proposition seems to be that white males (with some exceptions, she noted) are inferior to all other groups in the qualities that make for a good jurist.

Any prominent white male would be instantly and properly banished from polite society as a racist and a sexist for making an analogous claim of ethnic and gender superiority or inferiority.

Conservatives have been confident that Sotomayor’s views on diversity and affirmative action are out of the mainstream and can be used to expose her as a radical. Nonetheless, imagine Taylor’s words in the mouth of, say, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and you see the aesthetic difficulty that Republicans could have here. Voters may not like the idea of unqualified minorities taking their jobs, but what would they think of a bench of white, male Republicans hectoring a Hispanic woman about her views of white men?

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Comments

25 Comments

asty
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 10:01 am

President Obama will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor
If confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, Judge Sotomayor, 54, would replace Justice David H. Souter to become the second woman on the court and only the third female justice in the history of the Supreme Court. She also would be the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Supreme Court.
See details of her biography:Judge Sonia Sotomayor-news-online

hardmanb
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 10:04 am

… in which she “hopes 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.”

And I would hope that a white male with a steller educational background and who is an entrepreneur would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a female hispanic who hasn't lived that life.

So what? She (and I) can hope that a richer experience would make for better decisions. So what?

N TUZIK
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 10:05 am

I believe the federal government in general is racist against the white male and furthers its agenda under the title of “diversity”. Is it not discrimination to treat one group differently from another? So, when the federal government “actively persues” to fill a position with any minority, that is reverse discrimination! THE PERSON -NO MATTER RACE OR GENDER- WHO IS THE MOST QUALIFIED SHOULD GET THE JOB!!!!!

El Coyote
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 10:06 am

Does not matter what or who she is. Obama sees her as 20 million votes 4 years from now.

JoeJustice
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 10:20 am

'So, when the federal government “actively persues” to fill a position with any minority, that is reverse discrimination!'

Reversed as to the proper direction in which discrimination is supposed to occur? As for this land where her race/gender take a back seat, where is it? It sure isn't the US.

Right Wing Joe
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 10:53 am

It would be nice if I could get selected for a job that I am not the best candidate for because of my gender and ethnicity. It seems that to “earn” things nowdays, you just have to fit in a certain category, and viola, your president, a supreme court justice, a govt. this or that. If it werent for white males, America would be half Mexico (more than it already is) and half Canada. America would not exist without us inferior and horrible white males, and so is the path of the Obama administration. I dont have a problem with any particular race, I have a problem with the unequal treatment that caucasians are recieiving now that affermative action has taken hold. Thats just the opinion of a right wing extremist. The battle cry of this dying nation is “tolerance”.

Gregor01
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 2:46 pm

No kidding – had any white male made the reverse remark there would be no chance, at all, of him getting an appointment to the USSC.

WE don't need women or men, we don't need latinos, caucasians, Asians or Africans on the court. We need people who understand that their job is to resolve legal disputes, not legislate from the bench. Sadly, from what I've seen so far, and I hope I'm mistaken if she's confirmed, this one seems to be the type who will do exactly the opposite of what her job is if she is confirmed.

Gregor01
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 2:47 pm

Excellent point.

Gregor01
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 2:47 pm

Wow.

What he said!

shaniqua davison
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 6:58 pm

f this woman were NOT A RACIST she would not be a member of LA RAZA which means the RACE in spanish.
If this woman were not a racist, she would simply state a wise experienced PERSON will make better decisions than a NON-WISE, inexperienced PERSON…
whats the ”white” got to do with it.. that the racism this woman harbors coming through.. there are plenty of unwise whites, blacks, AND ‘LA RAZA’, and this racist is one of them..
she is too ignorant to see her own blatant racism, and too supported in her racism to care.

Pat
Comment posted May 26, 2009 @ 7:41 pm

Sotomayor: Obama should replace entire administration with ‘Latina Women’

http://wineandexcrement.com/sotomayor-obama-sho…

Sotomayor: Obama should replace entire administration with ‘Latina Women’

WASHINGTON – Although her nomination to the nation’s highest court is barely 24 hours old, Supreme Court hopeful Sonia Sotomayor is loudly and publicly demanding that the president not stop with his assist in her historic rise to the threshold of judicial all-stardom. In a tearful yet defiant press conference today, Sotomayor called on President [...]

scott
Comment posted May 27, 2009 @ 2:15 am

but surely you have to concede that having an advantageous background and ample resources will help ensure that you are what is traditionally thought of as “the best candidate.” i should say that i do not love the idea of racially-based affirmative action (but prefer an socio-economically based system), but think that only looking at traditional measures of qualification and not taking into account how they were achieved puts a number of people unfairly out of the contest.

Sonia Sotomayor (6.25.54) nom’d for SCOTUS 5.26.09 | 1800blogger
Pingback posted May 27, 2009 @ 9:51 am

[...] Read more on tactics against Sotomayor’s nomination: ‘Enemy of the White Male’! [...]

dbdublin
Comment posted May 27, 2009 @ 11:25 am

So I take it white males are no longer allowed to question Latin females about their judicial views? I personally would like to know more about Ms. Sotomayor's views on white males no matter who is asking the question, particularly in light of the recent Connecticut decision where ninteen white males and a Latino were denied promotions because of their race. Wouldn't you like to know more about that, David? Try to lay your politically correct views aside for a moment and concentrate on the issues.

christopher
Comment posted June 2, 2009 @ 6:48 am

soto is latina alright…………..5 feet tall…….5 feet wide !

christopher
Comment posted June 2, 2009 @ 1:48 pm

soto is latina alright…………..5 feet tall…….5 feet wide !

Racist Judges | WildCraft
Pingback posted July 12, 2009 @ 11:34 pm

[...] Sotomayor is a racist. [...]

David
Comment posted July 13, 2009 @ 2:38 am

I'm 35, I never profited from the old boys network and I'm incredibly hostile to someone whose defnition of fairness is so incompatible with my own. I am a Populist Democrat and I think the Ricci case was an absolutely travesty of justice.

I think America largely remains a meritocracy, and I don't like peope like Sotomayor who push a proportionality based notion of fairness.

Fairness lies in the rules of the game and their objective application.

Fairness has nothing to do with outcomes.

I am a liberal Democrat because I want people to have opporunities to play the game and I am willing to assist those who lose.

Unlike the world view of Ms. Sotomayor, that is true empathy…

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.. in which she “hopes 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.” And I would hope that a white male with a steller educational background and who is an entrepreneur would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a female hispanic who hasn't lived that life.

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