by David Heim
Playing the race card seems to be an inexhaustible dimension of American politics, with ever-new variations in the way that charges and countercharges can be pulled from the deck. In response to charges of "racism" (per Newt Gingrich and others), Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will now have to defend to the Senate her comment that "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."
Sotomayor later summarized her point—made, not incidentally, in the context of discussing the country's legal record on racial and gender issues—with a statement that hardly anyone conversant with American history and law can deny: "Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see."
Indeed, the same argument about the salutary role of personal experience in helping judges to understand the issues before them was invoked by both Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in their Senate hearings.
It would be interesting if, rather than trying to soften or explain away her remark, Sotomayor would use the platform of the hearings to expand on them. Minority figures who succeed in Anglo-dominated arenas have long carried the necessary burden of operating in two worlds—they know their own black or Latino world as well as the world of the dominant culture, whereas Anglos know only the dominant culture. Is it such a stretch to suggest that being conversant with two worlds constitutes a "richness of experience" that would, everything else being equal, make one a better judge?
June 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
On the other hand, the Sotomayor comment violates a basic rule of ethics -- treat others as you would want to be treated, speak of others as you would wish them to speak of you.
I wish there were a middle ground. Not crying racism, but also not minimizing or rationalizing her comment.
It's not a big wrong, but it's also not nothing. She spoke in a way she would not want to be spoken of.
Chris
Post a Comment
We don't currently require registration, but we do prefer that you include your name. If you don't have any of the login types listed in the pulldown menu, select "Name/URL"--the URL field is optional, so leave it blank if you don't want to hyperlink your name to another site.