Thanks for your explanation over at "Dissenting Justice." I would've responded there, but I hate it when people introduce a separate topic in comment threads, then continue as if its their blog!
Okay, so yeah, I introduced a separate topic. But, I'm not continuing as if its my blog! :)
A few minutes after I posted the comment, the same thought just occurred to me. But now I wonder, what do we do with someone's judicial philosophy if s/he's a judge on the dissenting side?
And to Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment (your blog archive is in my line of sight) - I think the difference between the "wise Latina" and (apparantly ordinary) white male is the "wealth of their experience." So, in my way of looking at it, she's not talking about all white males or low-rating all white males. I think what she's saying is that personal experience matters, and along with that, a person's race impacts those experiences. And presumably, the more varied experiences, especially those involving some type of real life struggle, the more wisdom a person has. And presumably, the more wisdom a person has, the better their judgement.
I completely have no problem with that comment and actually agree. Maybe being a black woman myself impacts the way I view her comment - but maybe that goes to prove what Blackmun was saying? And for anyone to pretend biases don't exist, not just within a person but throughout society, and that those bias don't impact the way law is both written (ie, crack cocaine and powder sentencing disparity) and enforced . . . well, to be honest, yeah, I'd take the "wise" judgement no matter the race or gender.
And of course, unless promted, white men don't have to be aware of different biases, both within and without, to be successful in the US; whereas, white women and people of color do need to be aware of the biases society has against them and for them. Etc and so on, I'm sure you get my point without us having to hash out details of class and sexual orientation. Cause the wisest of white women and people of color are not only aware of the bias society has against them, but the biases they have against others and themselves.
Thanks for your explanation over at "Dissenting Justice." I would've responded there, but I hate it when people introduce a separate topic in comment threads, then continue as if its their blog!
ReplyDeleteOkay, so yeah, I introduced a separate topic. But, I'm not continuing as if its my blog! :)
A few minutes after I posted the comment, the same thought just occurred to me. But now I wonder, what do we do with someone's judicial philosophy if s/he's a judge on the dissenting side?
And to Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment (your blog archive is in my line of sight) - I think the difference between the "wise Latina" and (apparantly ordinary) white male is the "wealth of their experience." So, in my way of looking at it, she's not talking about all white males or low-rating all white males. I think what she's saying is that personal experience matters, and along with that, a person's race impacts those experiences. And presumably, the more varied experiences, especially those involving some type of real life struggle, the more wisdom a person has. And presumably, the more wisdom a person has, the better their judgement.
I completely have no problem with that comment and actually agree. Maybe being a black woman myself impacts the way I view her comment - but maybe that goes to prove what Blackmun was saying? And for anyone to pretend biases don't exist, not just within a person but throughout society, and that those bias don't impact the way law is both written (ie, crack cocaine and powder sentencing disparity) and enforced . . . well, to be honest, yeah, I'd take the "wise" judgement no matter the race or gender.
And of course, unless promted, white men don't have to be aware of different biases, both within and without, to be successful in the US; whereas, white women and people of color do need to be aware of the biases society has against them and for them. Etc and so on, I'm sure you get my point without us having to hash out details of class and sexual orientation. Cause the wisest of white women and people of color are not only aware of the bias society has against them, but the biases they have against others and themselves.