"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."
The above remark, made by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in 2001, became the linchpin of arguments against her nomination as confirmation hearings approached. Critics called the comment racist and offensive. They professed alarm that such a bigoted individual might sit on the Supreme Court.
I found the comment offensive myself. But my alarm goes beyond Ms. Sotomayor.
Since "rhetorical flourishes" seem to be getting people into trouble these days, I'll cut straight to the chase. The sentiment expressed by Sotomayor- that one group of people is more discerning, has better judgement and is entitled to greater influence than another- is extremely popular throughout the blogosphere. Surf left or right and you can collect plenty of examples.
The only difference is that they are not references to federal judges. They are discussions of who should- and should not- be permitted to vote.
Daydreaming about denying voting rights to others is a very popular activity on political blogs. I first noticed this trend during the presidential campaign. When Candidate Obama had difficulty securing votes in Appalachian communities, comments about Appalachia on one major left-leaning blog went from fretful to spiteful to vengeful in the space of a week. People declared that ignorance and inbred racism were the only explanation for this lack of enthusiasm. Some commenters suggested that, after the election, legislation should be drafted to forcibly repopulate Appalachian towns, "seeding" them with sophisticated, right-thinking progressives. Others demanded that certain states be disenfranchised until the people there could be properly "educated." Until these steps were taken, the thinking went, Appalachian citizens couldn't be trusted to vote wisely:
"I would hope that a wise Latina Urban woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male an Appalachian hick who hasn’t lived that life."
Left-leaning blogs weren't the only ones itching to inject a little chlorine into the voting pool, however. At least one self-proclaimed moderate blog that I read advocated reviving literacy tests. The idea was that only those voters who could pass a written civics and current affairs exam would be permitted to vote:
"I would hope that a wise Latina Urban woman Political Junkie with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male an Appalachian hick an ordinary news consumer who hasn’t lived that life."
The dream goal of some vote-restricters on the right is to exclude anyone who has not served in the military:
"I would hope that a wise Latina Urban woman Political Junkie Veteran with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male an Appalachian hick an ordinary news consumer a civilian who hasn’t lived that life."
Other comments have suggested that anyone currently accepting any form of public assistance should be forbidden to vote. The thinking appears to be that if such people were capable of sound judgement they would have a job, or that they only reason they will show up at the polls is to vote themselves more largesse from hardworking taxpayers:
"I would hope that a wise Latina Urban woman Political Junkie Veteran Successful Professional with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male an Appalachian hick an ordinary news consumer a civilian an unemployed person who hasn’t lived that life."
Was Sotomayor's remark offensive? Yes, but so are all of these. And so is the hypocrisy of criticizing Sotomayor while using different words to express the same ideas yourself. If there is no Wise Latina gifted with superior judgement, then there is also no Wise Urban Voter, no Wise Political Junkie, no Wise Veteran, no Wise Successful Professional.
There are only individual citizens, with their personal experiences and their right to vote.
(For more on my suffrage views, see here.)
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