Obama selects Latino woman as Supreme Court nominee

Wednesday 27th May, 07:20 AM JST

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yabits at 02:51 AM JST - 2nd June

All I'm going to say is - look to Mexico and south. What do you see? Come on, be honest, what?

Thank you. I am very certain that many Americans of non-Latin origin are frightened by this prospect. And so you've helped me make one of my points.
yabits at 02:59 AM JST - 2nd June

I can't help celebrate the idea of America which continues to work towards the ideals set for in the Declaration of Independence.

And your post counter-balances the previous one made by fusedentropy.

Fusedentropy implies that, in order to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, you must also adopt the Euro-centric, male-dominant views that the founding fathers held. In other words, the ideal American being white and English-speaking.

People like Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor expand our definition of what it means to be American. Fusedentropy thinks this will lead to our downfall; I happen to believe this diversity is one of America's great strengths.

Conservatives want to emphasize the "unum" in E pluribus unum. Liberals see the greatness in the "pluribus."
mlefler at 03:42 AM JST - 2nd June

One only has to read the Declaration of Independence to understand it was a declaration of human rights. Yes, the founding fathers were people who had their own agenda, some own slaves, others were seeking economic independence. What the Declaration of Independence is all about is what philosphers have discussed since the very beginning, what is man's relationship to government, man's relationship to man, man's relationship to nature, man's relationship to god. Read the Declaration of Independence for what it means, than you will see that America is striving to achieve those ideals. We are much closer now than ever before, and the future is hopeful. America works because it openly demonstrates both the weakness and the strength of man. Very few nations can claim the same.
yabits at 04:50 AM JST - 2nd June

Read the Declaration of Independence for what it means, than you will see that America is striving to achieve those ideals.

Beautiful post, mlefler.

The selection of Sonia Sotomayor appears to be one of those lightening rod events that brings out the two major opposing forces in the struggle towards the progress of all mankind, of which the Declaration of Independence is a critical milestone.

One force is represented by people who look to the past in an attempt to capture a mythical America "the way it used to be." The other force is supplied by people who look at the past as a mixture of good things and abominations, but whose primary vision is the change needed to move us forward to better things.
Wolfpack at 07:13 AM JST - 2nd June

yabits says: If you don't believe that whites institutionalized racism in the United States for most of its history, there isn't much anyone can do to help you. Every one of your logical fallacies regarding Sotomayor's statement arises from your failure to accept history.

Again, you have made yet another assumption - I have never stated that white people were not responsible for racism in America. I challenge you to find such a quote made by me. I am well aware of American history. I simply don't believe that we should give up on striving for a color-blind society just because Liberals don't think it is realistic.

I have a good reason for wanting to get beyond race and that is because my wife is of a different race than I. My thinking about her does not in the least bit revolve around her race. I do not wake up in the morning and immediately think that she is racially different from me. I do not want the Supreme Court to tell us that we do not have the same rights. A judge Sotomayor is just the sort of judge that would like to separate us along racial lines. That is wrong.
Wolfpack at 07:24 AM JST - 2nd June

yabits: You still have not addressed the question that I put to you. Do you consider this to be a racist statement:

I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a Latina female who hasn't lived that life.

Are you too afraid to admit that you harbor hateful feelings in your heart?

You continue to refuse to make factual and logical responses to the points I am making against Sotomayor and the insidiousness of racial identity politics in American government. As long as government officals remain focused on race - as Sotomayor is - then there will always be government policies supporting racism. The current form of racism is against white males. There is no form of racism that is beneficial to a society. That is why I firmly believe that within the next month or so, the Supreme Court will strike down Sotomayor's decision -and that of her colleagues- to bar the Connecticut firefighters from advancement based on their race.
Wolfpack at 07:28 AM JST - 2nd June

mlefler - your 03:42 AM JST post is awesome.
jessssicaaa at 09:09 AM JST - 2nd June

mlefler obviously an american xD nice speech, you truely care for your country, i respect that. But, yes theres a but ;P america pisses me off and always will ;D well atleast until i can fully see the change for the better. because like you mentioned they show there weakness's and strengths, like any country does, and to me theres more weakness's in america then strengths ;] and dont judge me on this alone, i have my reason's and i dont dwell on the past events, just while there still happening, i will hate america. ^^
teleprompter at 12:55 PM JST - 2nd June

yabits:

Thank you. I am very certain that many Americans of non-Latin origin are frightened by this prospect. And so you've helped me make one of my points.

Judging from the number of Mexicans (not to mention Cubans) who have voted with their feet,risked their very lives and fled their country for ours, I'd say a great many of them - the majority in fact - are also terrified of the way things are done in those benighted nations.

Why should we follow Mexico and Cuba into the dark?

Because people like you imagine it would be noble?
yabits at 05:57 PM JST - 2nd June

I simply don't believe that we should give up on striving for a color-blind society just because Liberals don't think it is realistic.

Striving is one thing. The acknowledgement that signals are still sent out daily that the dominant white culture is the superior one -- the one to emulate -- will help folks understand how minorities talk to members of their community about this. One example of a signal is this out-of-proportion outrage and total misunderstanding of Sotomayor's remarks to young Latinas.

A judge Sotomayor is just the sort of judge that would like to separate us along racial lines. That is wrong.

If you actually think that, then it is the whites who are wishing for the separation. What they can't seem to tolerate in this case is the concept of a wise Latina woman whose judgments are more fair and better reasoned than the average, monocultural, monolingual white person's.

The average white male of the type whose judgment is inferior to Sotomayor's is precisely the ones who attack a minority with the message: "We whites are more vocal about a color blind society and therefore less racist than you are!"
teleprompter at 06:08 PM JST - 2nd June

What they can't seem to tolerate in this case is the concept of a wise Latina woman whose judgments are more fair and better reasoned than the average, monocultural, monolingual white person's.

"Monocultural" ?

I can hardly follow you - all the Puerto Rican composers, writers, Nobel Prize winners crowding my mind at this moment...

Monolingual?

What does Sotomayor's New World Spanish, probably spoken haltingly, add to her legal acumen?

Her vaunted 'richness of experience' ?

Sotomayor is single and without children.
yabits at 06:09 PM JST - 2nd June

Do you consider this to be a racist statement...

It would not be a racist statement for a white male who was raised in a Latin American country where the non-Anglo majority had discriminated against Anglos for generations and whose society sent out daily signals that the dominant culture was the superior one. This white male would have English as his language at home, but would also be perfectly fluent in Spanish -- enough to graduate at the top of his class at one of the Latin nation's top universities. And he would be speaking in Spanish to others of the white minority in his country -- young folks struggling to compete and achieve as minorities in a non-white society.

As long as government officals remain focused on race - as Sotomayor is

No. The only ones I see "focused on race" are the ones attacking Sotomayor's innocuous remarks. The opposite of racial animosity -- of which there is not a trace in Sotomayor's remarks, but plenty in her attackers -- is "love of neighbor." Sotomayor's attackers have very little of that quality in them. If they did, they would not be reacting this way.
teleprompter at 06:12 PM JST - 2nd June

It would not be a racist statement for a white male who was raised in a Latin American country where the non-Anglo majority had discriminated against Anglos for generations and whose society sent out daily signals that the dominant culture was the superior one.

Meaningless comparison.

America is not Uruguay.
yabits at 10:03 PM JST - 2nd June

What does Sotomayor's New World Spanish, probably spoken haltingly, add to her legal acumen?

Since Spanish is her first language, and she speaks it fluently, her accomplishments in two cultures only enhance her ability to reason.

Anyone who speaks two different languages fluently knows that there are many thoughts and concepts that can't be translated directly from one language to another. One has to understand the thought process behind each language, as well as the culture, to derive and convey meaning. This makes the judgments made as a result that much more broad-based.

The fact that Sotomayor's first language derives from Latin, it has an even greater impact since Latin is the language of most legal concepts.
mlefler at 10:57 PM JST - 2nd June

Jessssicaaa,

I am curious as to why America makes you angry. I can only assume that you are still upset with the previous President and his administration, I know I am. I truely do care for my country, it doesn't mean I agree with what the government does. I vote, sometimes my choice is elected, sometimes not. I constantly work to improve my life and yours. Like every nation, mistakes will happen, the true measure of a nation is what they learn from it. I have hope that we have learned something over the past eigth years, if not, then that is our problem, but we are trying. I am trying.