TheLoop21.com

Across the Afrosphere


Afrosphere responds to Sonia Sotomayor complaints

By: crystal (follow this member)
Thu, 05/28/2009 - 00:00

comment   |   share it   |   print it

President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for a Supreme Court seat Tuesday garnered mixed responses from the GOP and other bloggers in the Afrosphere. Sotomayor would be the first ever Supreme Court justice who is Hispanic, which some think comes into play in the criticism of her.

It's the usual argument though, "is she smart enough?" or "qualified enough?" — and then of course there's the concern that she's too liberal and would favor minorities in her rulings.

The "is she smart enough?" question is indicative of the assumption that minorities who do "make it" in our society were somehow handed a pass that they didn't deserve. And as for the "would favor minorities" argument, I hope so because, honestly, that would help make things just a bit more even.

There's a portion of the GOP making their apparent racism against Sotomayor very visible, and if they succeed in blocking the first Latina Supreme Court justice, it could either alienate the Hispanic members of their party or morph into outrage for these racially intolerant party members.

More importantly, the GOP's unofficial spokesman Rush Limbaugh called President Obama and Sotomayor reverse racists, a statement so ridiculous it makes me sick to my stomach.

"So here you have a racist. You might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist. And the libs, of course, say that minorities cannot be racists because they don't have the power to implement their racism. Well, those days are gone, because reverse racists certainly do have the power to implement their power. Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he's appointed one." — Rush Limbaugh

When it comes down to it, I think her criticizers are angry because she's exceeded the bar for a woman of color and could be one of the most powerful decision-makers in our country. It's so sad that at so many levels, she's being victimized because of her ethnicity and gender.

From Racialious: "Jeffrey Rosen admits that he hasn’t 'read enough of Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions to have a confident sense of them,' and he adds that he hasn’t 'talked to enough of Sonia Sotomayor’s detractors and supporters to get a fully balanced picture of her strengths.' Still, he’s comfortable putting into print anonymous evaluations of her character and intelligence, concluding that she’s possibly 'not that smart.' "

Yet, Sonia Sotomayor has the most diverse and extensive experience of any other Supreme Court justice. If she were a white male, that would surely get her seated.

Crystal P. Smith is TheLoop21.com's editor. She writes the Inside the Loop and Across the Afrosphere blogs.

 

Tags:  
  • Politics
  • Across the Afrosphere
  • race and politics
  • Rush Limbaugh
  • Sonia Sotomayor
  • supreme court

 

RELATED STORIES


  • Slideshow: 2010 'Journalism in Color' survey results
    Thu, 03/18/2010 - 08:54
    How the media impacted race relations after President Obama's election. ...
    Read More
  • Health care deform: A victory won't fix the Obama legacy
    Thu, 03/18/2010 - 00:00
    A health care victory might not solve much. ...
    Read More
  • Are Democrats playing hardball or dodge ball on health care?
    Tue, 03/16/2010 - 10:59
    Just pass the bill already. ...
    Read More
  • Podcast: 'Both Sides Of The Loop' 11
    Tue, 03/16/2010 - 09:28
    'Both Sides of The Loop' on Tavis Smiley's Chicago State event and on health care. ...
    Read More


 

COMMENTS



by Paul Mondesire

The GOP as represented by radio personality Rush Limbaugh, as well as Michael Steele of the Republican National Committee have got NOTHING!!! They have no valuable ideas or ideals that the majority of the country is interested in at this point. So what are they doing? They are just Hatin' on President Obama and everything he does.

Seriously, with all of the many challenges that this nation is facing in any area you can conceive of, the opposition party is not providing any leadership, they are just complaining. They belong on the Playa Haters Ball:

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=24419

Posted Thu, 05/28/2009 - 09:39

Post new comment

Anyone can comment at anytime. Login or Register to keep all your comments in your profile!
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Formatting Tips:
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
Please type what you see in the box below.
 

Blogosphere

  • Culture Voice What is the 'Price of Beauty'?
  • Schooled! No more Senior Year?
  • Post-Race? Erick Erickson is CNN's go-to bigot, misogynist and homophobe
  • Money Counts Older Blacks pay high price in recession
  • register
  • login

Search

  • rss
  • twitter
  • faceboook
  • myspace
  • black
  • Home
  • News
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Culture&Society
  • Entertainment

right-menu

  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Community

Blogs

  • Schooled!
  • Post-Race?
  • Culture Voice
  • Money Counts
Hot Topics
  • This Week's News
  • Unemployment
  • Race And Media
  • Healthcare
  • Black Politicians
  • Jobs Bill
  • Census 2010
  • HOME
  • MONEY
  • POLITICS
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • ENTERTAINMENT

imageIn the Loop

  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Photo Galleries
  • Loop Scoops

imageCommunity

  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Discuss
  • Polls

imageThe Loop21

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Work for Us
  • Advertise with Us

imageMore

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

imageConnect with us:

  • image
  • image
  • image
  • image
  • image
Go Up?

Copyright© TheLoop21 All Rights Reserved