Sotomayor is a Racist?

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“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.”  Yeah, yeah, yeah, and blah, blah, blah.  We’ve heard about this ad nauseam.  Finally, Senator Lindsey Graham had the balls to say what others only think, that as a white man, had he said he would more often than not reach a better conclusion than an Hispanic woman they would have, “Had my head.”  No doubt he would have been forced to resign like others before him as precedent has been established for such already. 
So why isn’t Ms. Sotomayor being forced to resign?  Is there a double standard at play?  A woman, in this case Hispanic, can get away with what a white man cannot?  Absolutely a double standard is at play.  That’s a given that only the most ignorant or those in denial would dare dispute.  And unquestionably, it is wrong. 

But here’s the point.  Non-whites continue to say that such an inequity is okay because white men have held the power for far too long and deserve it.  WRONG!  Racism is racism, without exception.  Don’t give me that trite graduate school academic explanation either; that power plus prejudice equals racism and since only the white men have held the power only they can be racist.   Anyone who disrespects another’s race is being racist, period, end of sentence. 

No one should be given a free pass to disparage the race of another.  We’re long overdue to stop with this sophomoric ethnocentric behavior.  It only serves to demonstrate our fear of anyone whose skin tone doesn’t match our own.  We’re all the same color on the inside.  When will we mature to the point where we can look past one’s outward appearance and begin to admire the soul? 

And is there a difference between disrespecting another’s race and exercising one’s right to state their opinion?  Given that possibility, is Sotomayor really a racist?  Did she truly disparage another race, or just another gender?  Better still, was she claiming Hispanic superiority or was she merely stating her opinion? 

It is often said that opinions are just like assholes, everybody’s got one.  Well, I would imagine Ms. Sotomayor is sporting the latter just like the rest of us.  Shouldn’t she be entitled to the former too?  But then again, shouldn’t anyone, including a white guy, be afforded the same?  What do you think?

Ron Stout has a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. in Counseling & Human Development. He is an adjunct professor teaching college courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, and Personal & Social Adjustment, and he is the author of the popular book Secrets From Inside The Clubhouse: What Men REALLY Think About Women.

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