speaking uncomfortable truths

[novapsyche]

My respect for Roger Simon just went up several notches. Read the whole thing.

Sonia Sotomayor must dummy up

How come the only racism that bothers some people is reverse racism?

People of color have been oppressed for centuries in this country, and while progress has been made, it has come slowly.

But Sonia Sotomayor makes one speech suggesting that her background as a Latina might actually give her superior insight or wisdom to a white man, and there is an explosion — an eruption! a volcano! — of indignation.

She is a reverse racist! She has dared to suggest that a nonwhite woman could ever be superior in any way, under any circumstances, to a white man. So how can she now sit on the Supreme Court (a court that for most of its existence has resembled a country club board)?

[...] Why? I don't get it. Why was her word choice poor if "she was simply saying that her life experiences" gave her "information about the struggles and hardships" of people?

We all know why. If you are not white, you have to be careful what you say. You cannot hint that you may actually know more than white people.

Comments

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

And if you are white, you also have to be careful what you say. And you cannot hint that you may actually know more than non-white people. I think this is a good thing.

Yes, people's backgrounds influence who they are, but there are still a lot bigger differences among people in a group than there are between groups. And I think if you try to play up someone's race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. as a strength in some area or another, you're legitimizing it as a point of distinction; if that door is open, I think it's likely to be used against minorities (of whatever category) more than for them.

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

That said, I think this much of a furor over one line she said eight years ago is pretty excessive. And I think she probably meant that a range of backgrounds on the appeals court was better than all three members being white men who grew up at least upper-middle class, not that she was better in isolation. That's edging dangerously close to making race a qualification, but she does have a point about empathy.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

But Justice Scalia doesn't have to dummy up about being Italian.

[pgdudda.livejournal.com]

<snark>...and I don't ever have to dummy up about about being deaf or gay.</snark>

Being of Italian ancestry in 2009 is a far cry from being Latin@ in 2009, or being of African descent in 2009. Ignoring that trivializes the differences in their experiences, when the better attitude is to recognize and value those differences for the light they shed on "the human condition." The problem is that minorities often get silenced and/or marginalized for daring to express that those differences are real, tangible, and relevant.

[guppiecat]

Personally, I think that what's going on with Sotomayor had nothing really to do with racism and is all about political posturing. If she hadn't said what she did, her detractors would just find something else to pick on.

Regarding the reverse racism issue, I think it's an argument of hypocrisy. If you explain to people why racism is wrong from a logical "fairness" perspective, then the argument has to be commutative. If it's not, it creates cognitive dissonance, to which people apply the label "reverse racism" and don't think about it any further.

If people were serious about fixing the problems linked with racism (I don't think that recognizing cultural differences is, at core, a problem... but it does get tangled in this mess), we'd be talking about the generational accumulation of wealth and skills and finding ways to bootstrap those who haven't had as much time to accumulate those advantages (which, for some reason, seems to be called "privilege" today). This would make the most sense for our society, help the greatest majority of people and advance our species. Of course, it's hard to do, as it requires tolerance and understanding. It's easier just to point fingers.

[laureth.livejournal.com]

When they can't find stuff to tear apart in her judicial decisions, they move to old speeches. Of course her opponents have to try to drag her down somehow, but the fact that they're reaching so far in their desperation is encouraging.