I didn't write anything about this when it first broke, but after watching some of the confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor, I decided to make a little comment.
All those politicians jumping all over the lady for her comment about how a wise Latina woman can make better decisions than a random white man can do one thing for me.
Save that noise.
I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to hear your pontificating about how unfair it was, or what bad judgement she showed. I don't want to hear your idiotic questions where you ask her how she would have felt if the situation was reversed. I definitely don't want to hear your sad spiel about how this proves that racism affects everyone.
Save it for somebody with a lobotomy.
Some of my contrary white readers (looking at you Darth) might be shaking their heads right now. They probably feel like those types of comments are justified, that they make sense. Y'all might even be wondering why Sotomayor's comments didn't disqualify her completely because they clearly show some sort of "racial bias."
Guess what? Y'all tripping like a blind man at a gopher farm.
Eugene Robinson already ate up this whole premise in a recent column where he pointed out that all these angry white dude's are upset that Sotomayor believes her identity gives her an advantage when it comes to making decisions, but they don't even acknowledge that they feel the same way about being white and male. You know, basically they think white and male equals objective and fair.
(Sidenote: Robinson noted in his column that one politician had the nerve to say that if he had said something similar to what Sotomayor said, his career would be over. That's the type of BS that pisses me off. White folks have been saying stuff like that for CENTURIES and have had careers go along just fine. Remember Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond? How about Senator Klansman from West Virginia? Don Imus anyone? I hate when these bastards rewrite history to make their points better.)
Like you, I find it amazing that any white person could arrive at that conclusion given all of the historical evidence to the contrary, but that's the basic premise that Robinson skillfully attacked.
Anyway, I don't even want to talk about that here. I want to talk about something I've been touching on a lot lately. Basically, I'm tired of all this outrage from certain white folks when they feel slighted and their comparative silence when they or their friends are the ones doing the slighting. It's not that this isn't a normal and understandable reaction, after all I do it, it's that these white folks don't even want to acknowledge that their reactions differ based on who is making the accusations.
I run into this so much that it sickens me. White folks who can make complex (but stupid) racial arguments explaining how they are being discriminated against, but are still blind to the discrimination other groups face. It's like they have these colossal race blinders that prevent them from seeing anything that challenges their worldview.
So, as long as these cats insist on this course of action they can miss me with their complaints about hurt feelings. I couldn't care less if they were Klansmen on fire and I had a full bladder. I'm not trying to hear their noise, and I really don't care about their feelings.
Save it for somebody stupid.
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10 comments:
Clap, clap, clap! My feelings exactly!
Well said. And from the heart.
Hey! What did I do? :-(
hehe. Actually I really couldn't care less she said that, in fact I understand the sentiment somehow. It's all good.
As a white person, all I feel like I can really say to this is, "Thank you, I'm listening, and trying my best to understand. And to make some other white folks understand." But yeah, those race blinders really are colossal. But, not necessarily permanently attached.
Big Man, I hear you and I fully agree. The bottom line for me with this hearing is that these good old white boys want to see Judge Sotomayor distance herself from her ethnicity, and deny any injustice that PoC endure on daily basis in a white dominated world. In short, they need her to show that she is more sensitive to the needs of whites— interpret the law to protect the interest of whites-- in order to get her appointment.
I'm long past the time where I give credence to anything a white person have to say, there are a few exceptions, but for the most part a white person have nothing to say to me that I'll believe or respect.
White people like to talk about "personal responsibility" about some boot straps bullshit. Judge Sotomayor is a boot straps person. She has attended their fancy schools, and graduated at the top of her class. Adjudicated over 3000 cases (without a hint of racism) and these white boys are trying to deny her a position that she is OVER qualified to perform. How can I take these muthafukas seriously?
But Big Man, can you stop holding back and tell us how you really feel?
But on the serious side,
1) I sign on to your sentiment, and
2)I'm amazed at how the Senate will so often latch on to some single, relatively minor statement or action by someone just to mess around with the president, using a nominee as a proxy.
Its still early up here and I am only on the first cup of coffee so all I am going to say is yes, I agree with you.
So what she said that comment...the good ole boys clubs lives it everyday but refuse to acknowledge their privilege.
Big Man
I'm leery on the whole Sonia Sotomayer confirmation, we as African Americans are quick to go to bat for other disadvantage groups because what we feel is a shared legacy of discrimination!
But, when have these groups gone to bat for us...especially the Hispanics, most of these groups are vying for some vestige of white privilege and in many cases challenge black power and leadership, when we obtain a degree of power, when they wouldn’t have otherwise challenged white folks in similar position!
Lincoln
I understand your concern, but in this case I think it's misguided.
I'm not invested in Sotomayor's confirmation in any way other than she seems qualified for the job. And I think that she's being held to a different standard than the white guys who came before her.
It's not about racial solidarity as much as it's about the fact that I'm tired of there being different standards for white folks and everybody else.
good points!
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