Sotomayor’s Misguided “Brown vs. Board of Ed” Response
In response to the uproar over her now infamous quote from the Spring 2002 issue of Berkeley La Raza Law Journal Lecture: ‘A Latina Judge’s Voice’…
Justice (Sandra Day) O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I 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.
As Republicans have seized on reminding people what would have happened to one of them had they said the same thing in reverse, Judge Sotomayor’s response is just short of lame and embarrassingly beyond historical ignorance. Not the best combination for someone awaiting Supreme Court nomination hearings.
And when she was asked about it by the White House team, according to a senior adviser, she explained her answer by saying that “her life experiences” affect “how she sees facts that come before her as a judge.” Not to mention the fact that she also pointed out that the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board of Education was made by an all-white, all-male court.
– Gloria Borger, CNN Senior Political Analyst
Excuse me, Judge Sotomayor, but the chances are quite good that the “all-white, all male court” decision cleaned up the racism of Democrats.
I asked University of Dayton history professor Larry Schweikart for his opinion on Sotomayor’s response…
For the Democratic Party to be championing a minority woman comes as something of an oddity, given that it was the Democrats who for almost 100 years prevented blacks in particular from being a part of American politics. It was DEMOCRAT Bull Connor who sicced the dogs on black marchers; it was DEMOCRAT Orval Faubus who blocked black students from coming to school; it was DEMOCRAT George Wallace who promised to uphold segregation laws forever.
Everywhere one turns, it was the DEMOCRATS who were blocking opportunity for blacks and whites alike. Today, it’s DEMOCRAT Barack Obama who has never denounced “black theology” trumpeted by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright; it was DEMOCRAT Michelle Obama who was never proud of her country before her husband was elected — and that must, apparently, include when Clarence Thomas was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democrats in the 1830s were the party of racism, and in the 1930s they were still the party of racism, and half-a-century of New Deal plantationism for many African-Americans today means the Democrats are still the party of slavery, and Sotomayor can’t wait to take her place among the overseers.
And again, remember the words from the Democrats’ own website that still reads,
Democrats are unwavering in our support of equal opportunity for all Americans. That’s why we’ve worked to pass every one of our nation’s Civil Rights laws…
… and every law that protects workers. Most recently, Democrats stood together to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.
On every civil rights issue, Democrats have led the fight. We support vigorous enforcement of existing laws, and remain committed to protecting fundamental civil rights in America.
We know those statements are patently and historically false. Hopefully Judge Sonia Sotomayor will do better homework on the SCOTUS bench than she has in her pre-hearing preparation.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:30 am
after reading the full quote from her I got the feeling that she thinks that a wise latina woman isn’t as smart as a white male, but she hopes they are
June 1st, 2009 at 12:47 am
“Wise” Latina woman: “First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I 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.”
So, “wise” is a meaningless term? But she is, nevertheless “wise?” Because she’s a “Latina woman?” (And isn’t “Latina woman” redundant?)
June 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am
I have known and dated New York Latina’s (cuban, and Puerto Rican) none were wise at all, their decission were poor (after all they chose to date me
). No really the ones I dated I would not give that much power to. Turst me.
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:56 pm
When a judge says something THAT inane, racist, and stupid, it ought to not only disqualify her (or him for that matter) from being nominated, but every decision she has ever made should be nullified.
And Professor Schweikart is so right on; the democrats as a whole have NEVER promoted civil rights in any way. They see minorities as dependent, ignorant herds just like they did before the Emancipation Proclamation.