Comments on: Does Sotomayor Think Latina Women Are Better Judges than White Men? Is She Right?

By: Jurjen S.

Jurjen S. — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:57:15 +0000

I think I can sort of see what Sotomayor’s getting at, in that, in a society where whites and males tend to be in a more advantaged position (generally speaking) than other ethnicities and women, a white male is less likely (again, generally speaking) to be subjected to injustice than someone who is female, a member of an ethnic minority, or both. And thus, a white male may not be as practiced in spotting injustice because he’s had less occasion to be at the receiving end.

I don’t know that I agree with such an assessment, but I don’t think it’s racist or sexist to think that.

By: Angus Johnston

Angus Johnston — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:49:18 +0000

Clearly the point of mentioning Holmes and Cardozo wasn’t that they were two white male justices who “made decisions that we now view as unwise,” but that they were two tremendously bright, tremendously capable justices who were unable to transcend their own, and their milieu’s, racism and sexism.

As for what happens when you reverse the statement, no, of course I don’t like it. Most statements of opposition to white male supremacy become unpalatable when recast as statements in support of white male supremacy.

And no, to answer your next question, I don’t believe that Sotomayor was taking a Latina supremacist stance. You can’t approach her argument in isolation — it’s an argument that exists in a context, and part of that context is the profound underrepresentation of women and people of color in American government, past and present.

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:11:13 +0000

So you just ignore the “would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male” because she pointed to two judges that made decisions that we now view as unwise. Sorry but that fails basic logic test. Pointing to two individuals as evidence of a race and sex-based lack of wisdom would be attacked if this was a white male making the reverse claim.

How do you feel about this statement coming from this white male:

“I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a latina female who hasn’t lived that life.”

Love it now? Want someone who said that in the highest court of the land?