As a nation, we have come a long way since the civil rights
movement began in the 1950s. In the past few years, we have
witnessed many firsts; the first African-American president, the
first Hispanic Attorney General, the first African-American
Secretary of State (both male and female).
As a nation, we have come a long way since the civil rights movement began in the 1950s. In the past few years, we have witnessed many firsts; the first African-American president, the first Hispanic Attorney General, the first African-American Secretary of State (both male and female). The glass ceiling seems to have been shattered.
With all these ethnic and gender firsts, the negative and hateful reaction to Hispanic Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court is surprising. But, in some ways, the harsh treatment is typical of what many minorities still experience.
First of all, there have been false assumptions or misguided accusations based on nothing more than appearances. It didn’t take long after Sotomayor’s nomination, almost instantly, before she was labeled a racist, reverse-racist, judicial activist, and a product of identity politics.
Following these accusations, people and colleagues that actually know her work came out to vouch for her credentials, qualifications, accomplishments, character and work ethic.
Still, opponents of Sonia Sotomayor have tried to exploit comments she made, and in some cases have taken her comments out of context, in an effort to derail her nomination.
One such item is a statement Sonia made at a UC-Berkeley school of law lecture in 2001. She said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
In the context of the rest of her talk, it made sense despite her ill choice of words. She went on to say that until 1972, no gender discrimination case was ever upheld by the Supreme Court. Could it be because there were no female judges on the court, much less a wise Latina woman? It wasn’t until 1981 that Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
Another item for debate, that I’m sure will be a hot topic during the confirmation process, is her stance on affirmative action. For many minorities, including women, being qualified for a position is not always sufficient. If the playing field is level, and women are chosen over their male counterparts, cries of preferential treatment are most certain to follow and a cloud of suspicion will most likely hover over their placement or promotion.
This happens with minorities all the time. People utter comments such as, “He got that job because he’s Hispanic” or “She was promoted just because she’s a woman.” Many minorities work even harder to “prove” that they are worthy of the positions they hold. They often feel as though they must uphold high standards not only for themselves but for their entire ethnic group or gender. There is added pressure to succeed – and many skeptical eyes watching for failure.
When attempting to provide a solid justification for offering a position to a minority or a female, sometimes the accomplishments of the candidate might be overstated.
For example, President Obama in his nomination speech for Sotomayor stated, “It’s a measure of her qualities and her qualifications that Judge Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court by a Republican President, George H.W. Bush, and promoted to the Federal Court of Appeals by a Democrat, Bill Clinton.
“Walking in the door she would bring more experience on the bench, and more varied experience on the bench, than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.”
When Obama made the reference that Sotomayor had more experience than the other Justices on the Court, his need to highlight this overstates her accomplishments and minimizes the experiences of others.
The ultimate goal when hiring, nominating, or promoting is to be colorblind and gender-neutral. The good news is that there are examples of government agencies, private businesses and individuals that hire or promote employees solely based on education, work experiences and skills.
A year after purchasing the Atlanta Braves, Ted Turner founder of CNN (Cable Network News) hired Bill Lucas to run the ball club. In his book Call me Ted, he writes, “When I promoted him, I didn’t realize he would be baseball’s first-ever black general manager – I was simply putting the best guy I knew in the position.”
Putting the best person in the position hopefully is what Congress will do during the confirmation process to seat Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court. Then, as we move forward and the notoriety of being labeled the first-ever diminishes, we can say we have made progress in race and gender relations.
Mario Banuelos has lived in Morgan Hill for 19 years. He has served on the south County Dayworker Committee and is a member of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. He is married and has four children.
