Reaction to Sonia Sotomayor's "A Latina Judge's Voice"

It seems today that the way we lump the complex issue of race relations into two options, that of the “color blind” society, which claims that race should be ignored and that we should simply stop thinking about it, and that of the “multi-cultural” society, which encourages diversity and expression of one's cultural background. I argue that this presents a false choice, and undermines the standards at which true debate about racial identity and how it relates to american values should be approached. After all, when it comes to color blindness, who is setting up the perimeters in which color blindness exists? As Sonia Sotomayor makes clear in her speech, while the overall trend of woman and ethnic minorities in a judicial position has been increasing, there is still a major discrepancy between minorities and white men in judicial oversight. This fact should make any claim of “color blindness” immediately suspect: if the overwhelming majority of judges are white men, then it is awfully convenient that they would be deemed the neutral, objective authority under the claim of “color blindness”.

One of the things that makes this country so interesting is that it's culture is so dynamic, and it's interesting to see how people react to that dynamic element. This forces each of us to have a unique perspective on what it means to be an American. One person's idea of patriotism and of justice can be deemed treasonous and unjust by another. It is upholding this, in itself, that I think should be the source of our national identity.