I’ve been following a number of political Twitter people on Twitter lately. Some on the right and some on the left. For the most part the people on the right have really be upsetting me because they go over the top a lot. But today I read a Tweet by Newt Gingrich that got me thinking. He said “Imagine a judicial nominee said "my experience as a white man makes me better than a Latina woman" new racism is no better than old racism”
I mean really just imagine a white man saying that his race and gender better qualified him for a position on the Supreme Court. What would be the reaction? Would he be forced to withdraw his name from consideration? I have no doubt that he would.
Now as I understand it what Judge Sotomayor actually said was a Latina would often "reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life." Yes I can see that a person’s life experience would influence how they decide cases. I’m not sure that different always implies better or worse though. Was her statement racist? Would it be racist if a white man said he could “reach a better conclusion than a Latina/black/woman who hasn’t lived the life” I think who many who would agree with Judge Sotomayor on the first statement would be quick to damn the white man for the second statement. Am I wrong? Who would be willing to defend both those cases?
Personally I am not willing to write someone off as a racist on the basis of one statement that I don’t have full context for. It doesn’t matter to me if it is Sotomayer or some white guy. I want to know context and I want to look at a broader history. But if I don’t hear some Democrats expressing some concern about that statement and asking some tough questions about it I will view them negatively.
I should say that at least one left wing friend of mine once insisted that only people with power could be racist. That a person who was out of power (say a black person or a Hispanic person) could never logically be called racist. I find that argument preposterous and completely lacking in credibility. But you know I would also hardly call a Federal judge powerless or less powerful than the average person of any ethnic/racial/gender group no matter their own race/gender/ethnicity. People of all races, gender, religion and ethnic background can be racists. We don’t want racists in positions of power no matter who they are.
I’m predisposed to like Sotomayor because she was first appointed by George H W Bush and she’s from New York. Yeah some bias there. I am impressed with much of her personal story. Her race and gender are pretty much meaningless to me. For the most part though I see myself as being open-minded on this nomination. As with any appointee to the Supreme Court I expect the Senate to do a pretty through and non-biased review before confirmation. I always hate to see these things fall on pure party lines.
“Imagine a judicial nominee said “my experience as a white man makes me better than a Latina woman” new racism is no better than old racism”
I’m assuming a judicial nominee said that her experience as a Spanish woman makes her better qualified than a white male.
That’s not racist. That’s the truth. How many white men are in positions of political power?
I have lived everywhere and you won’t find anyone more racist than the white American man. They are racist, entitled, sexist, and suffer tremendously from the Dunning Kruger effect.
You cannot be of the privileged and entitled group of white men who have run and continue to run this country and cry racism against a woman only because she said her background and experience make her a better candidate.
Since we are becoming a more diverse country, we need people who represent that diversity. White men have not done a good job representing anything in recent years. We have more babies dying than in third world countries. Our life expectancy has decreased. School shootings have increased. People no longer believe in science. And now we have a deadly variant of a coronavirus running rampant. On January 6, 2021 our former president tried to incite an insurrection. We just pulled out of a 20 year war that cost trillions of dollars and left our weapons as a gift for the enemies. We have sent all our manufacturing to China only to place tariffs on imports from them that directly affect small businesses. Our healthcare is in the trash. The gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing larger. Capitalism soon won’t be sustainable. We have the largest prison population in the world. We are close to being the top ranking country for gun violence. College education is not affordable for most young adults. Texas has executed more people on death row than any other state in this nation, but yet they ban abortion.
I’m not happy.
Republicans cannot figure out that eating horse dewormer is not healthy, safe, or smart.
Democrats are not happy.
And most importantly, as a mother of three, I can state that the youth of this country are not happy with the state of affairs.
So tell me again how offended you are that a brown woman said she’d be better than a white man….
I believe anyone who has a unique experience can run the show better than it has been run. Women. LGBTQIA+, POC and many more I have not mentioned.
Take the criticism and make yourself better. Don’t cry racism white man. Be the change. No one likes the whining and entitled burden holding the whole team down.