(Cross posted at My Left Wing.)
By now, most have heard Sotomayor’s infamous statement that a wise Latina judge will, more often than not, reach better decisions than a white male. Since this came out, Sotomayor has not spoken to the press, but Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recently asked her about the comment, and he reports that she has a good explanation for her seemingly racist and sexist statement.
According to Durbin:
She said, "It's just one part of me." She said, "I'm many different things." And she said, "It -- basically it means that that's part of my life experience that I bring to my judgment." She said, "Maybe it means that with this background I'm a better listener; I listen for certain things."
So you see, she’s not saying one race or gender is better than another. She’s simply saying Latinas reach better judgments than white men because whatever Latinas care about and listen for is more important than whatever white men care about; or perhaps white men are just a bunch of assholes who don’t listen at all, while Latinas are morally better than that. Aren’t you glad she cleared that up?
It’s possible Dick Durbin mischaracterized her. But if Durbin got it right, it would appear Sonia Sotomayor does damage control about as well as Jeremiah Wright does.
Last week, I wrote an essay suggesting the Bush-appointed Sotomayor might not be a Democrat’s best choice for Supreme Court given her troubling record on free speech, abortion, and separation of church and state. I didn’t touch her sexist / racist statement then because I knew of only one comment and we all put a foot in our mouths occasionally. Joe Biden, for example, doesn’t really believe that FDR went on television when the stock market crashed. Sometimes we speak without thinking. I hoped Sotomayor’s racist, sexist comment was something like that.
But Sotomayor has now had plenty of time to consider her statement and explain it and/or apologize for it. If Sotomayor still cannot see a reason to apologize (even one of those half-assed, Trent Lott-style apologies like, "If anyone took my statement to mean what it obviously means instead of what I now pretend it means, then I’m deeply sorry their feelings were hurt."), if she still cannot see why people are upset about her statement, then the statement is not just an isolated gaffe – it reveals a woman who not only harbors racism and sexism in her heart, but who does not even recognize these bigotries as a problem. (It is now being reported that Sotomayor’s "wise Latina" comment was not isolated but is a staple of her public speeches.)
Do these biases affect her rulings? Durbin further reports, "She said race and gender don't take a back seat to good judgment when it comes to cases before her."
I’m sure we have other Justices who harbor racist or sexist biases, but at least they know such biases must be hidden, rather than heeded, and must – in all cases – take a back seat to good judgment. Sotomayor appears not to get that.
When Trent Lott made his racist remark about how America could have avoided "all these problems" by electing a segregationist president, Republican bloggers joined progressives in denouncing his bigotry and demanding better. Now, with the shoe on the Democratic foot, will Democrats be any less honorable in rooting out racism and sexism from our ranks? Will we hold the Democratic Party to a lower standard than the Republican Party?
Some on the left seem eager to make excuses for Sotomayor, more eager than she herself is. Some have even gone so far as to insist that calling attention to Sotomayor’s racism is itself racist. This wild play of the race card is built on the argument that no one would ever criticize a white male judge who made similar remarks. Oh really? A white male judge in America today could routinely say that white males reach wiser decisions than Latinas, that white males listen better than Latinas, and this judge could be appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court with no one questioning his statements? In what alternate universe is that plausible?
This race card play makes a mockery of racial issues, which may be what some Sotomayor-supporters hope for: trivializing her faults rather than addressing them.
It is time for us to acknowledge the truth. Concerns about Sotomayor’s racism and sexism are legitimate, and saying so aloud is not only fair, it is a requirement for anyone who calls himself egalitarian.
We may not stop Sotomayor’s confirmation. But if we make some noise, we may at least get this judge to see that her biases are a problem for her to work on, not a virtue for her to uphold. And we will show the country that Democrats are not more racist than Republicans, that we oppose all forms of bigotry wherever they originate.