Sotomayor

I hope every Hispanic in this country watched the Sotomayor Supreme Court hearings. The arrogant behavior of Republican senators show that they still do not understand the link between their words and their thoughts. They still think it's 1970. And if you missed it, let me tell you, they still look at women as emotional, weak creatures prone to "meltdowns". The questions were so impertinent and irrelevant. I can't imagine a white man being grilled about his belonging to an all-white fraternity or business association as some kind of "proof" that he is a racist.

In The Nation, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, summed up an article on the same subject much better than I can:

"I was proud of Sotomayor's restraint, but I also wanted her to counter attack, to punch back, to show anger. She couldn't do so in part because she is bound by the rules of judicial decorum. She also couldn't do so because of the racialized, gender rules of political engagement that allow white men, from senators to firemen, to express outrage, indignation, and emotion, but disallow those same expressions from women of color.

"The Republican attacks on Sotomayor were not meant to derail her nomination. They were meant to degrade and humiliate as a warning: if you attempt to assert your equality within a system still dominated by white male racial privilege you may get a place at the table, but not without public punishment."