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The white upper-middle-class male point of view may be the default position in politics (and the benighted repugnican viewpoint its radical extreme), but the default needs to reset. Scootch over, boys.
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Let's see more "wise Latinas," "uppity negroes," ambitious African-Americans, political transvestites, "diesel dykes," lesbian moms, married gay couples, in-charge Asian-Americans, assertive Native Americans, unintimidated women of all ages and stripes--and many others who bring ethnicity, gender, race, age, sexual orientation and culture to bear on decisions that affect a society in which all of the above outnumber the defacto model.
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Click here for more info on the Sotomayor poster.
More on "Wise Latina"
. The blogosphere's own C-Monster writes Just What is a 'Wise Latina' Anyway? for Time
. Eugene Robinson's Whose Identity Politics in the Washington Post
. Judge Sotomayor in her own words
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7 comments:
Good post! I read the interview with Justice Ruth Ginsburg in Sunday's Times and found it so disappointing to read that although she was able to benefit from affirmative action policies at Columbia in 1972, affirmative action on the Supreme Court has had such a limited affect after more than 30 years. I think I heard that out of 110 justices appointed to the court, 106 of them have been white men. What a record to be ashamed of! Let's hope that Sonia Sotomayor will be the first of those appointed to the court who demonstrate the implementation of a policy that goes beyond tokenism and that truly represents the multiplicity of our American society. That's not to say that we need to pick one of these and one of those, but only that the straight, white men power trip has got to end.
Ouch. It is certainly true that SCOTUS has been a white man's game for far too long. As might be expected, this has been changing. And as the Founders rightly designed, change on the court occurs slowly. Return from the insane liberal excess of the 1940s and 1950s took about forty years. It will take time to work off the whiteness as well as some of the conservatism. We *want* this because it helps mediate the tyranny of the majority.
As you probably know, but do not discuss, implying instead that opposition to Sotomayor is simply a product of a "white upper-middle-class male point of view", opposition to Sotomayor exists particularly on the "repugnican" side because they do not trust her to apply the law fairly. This is a hallmark of judicial activists, who simply seek to subvert whatever the law says for their preferences. It's not an unreasonable concern. Liberals don't want conservatives undermining the laws they pass either.
In any case, Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment is particularly troubling for the double standard at play in society. Should a white male say that, you would have nothing but the most painful of curses for them. You are, indeed, a member of at least two classes of people who are able to benefit from this double standard. It frustrates those who are on the other side of it. As it should frustrate you -- but the winners are so rarely concerned with the losers.
In any event, the great hope of the United States is that we can rise *above* race -- indeed just as President Obama has asked -- in order to come to a better result. The great unifying theme of the US has never and will never be race, nor gender, age, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Rather, it will be the idea of cross-cultural liberalism that engenders tolerance, choice, and liberty.
I'm sorry, I thought this was "Joanne Mattera Art Blog".
Shouldn't the title of this post be, "Here come da judge?"
Anonymous,
You're so proud of your little remark that you can't even use your name.
Because it's the Joanne Mattera Art Blog I can write whatever I want. There's always politics with the art, and they're always left of center, gay, feminist, pro multicultural, pro multilingual and pro civil rights for everyone. If you don't like it, you're welcome to not read it.
Chris,
Or maybe "Venga la juez."
interesting discussion! Im still on the fence and more than likely am willing to give Sotomayer a thumbs up in the end.
However I have to laugh out loud when anonymous people post little snarky remarks.. Go you!!
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