I'm a white woman. And yet, I work with the problems of predominantly black and Latino inner city areas.
I'm not going to say that I can't understand those problems, because I can, and do. But, I will say that I will NEVER, no matter how long I live, understand them in the way that someone who grew up black and latino, in an area like that, understands them.
Sotomayor is a counter-balance that is, at present, non-existent. The court is predominantly made up of white men and women. The primary political entities of this country, at every significant level, are made up of mostly white men and women. Were all things equal, I'd say that her comments were racist.
But they aren't. She represents a perspective that we haven't, and don't, have on the court. She represents experieces and perspectives that no one presently on the court will be able to speak to as well as she can.
And, I don't say that because I think she'll be more liberal. In point of fact, latinos in this country tend to be largely socially CONSERVATIVE. I've never seen any judges, for instance, that are tougher on crime than some of the Latino judges I've met who serve on the bench. Because these judges haven't just prosected crime, or defended criminals, they've usually LIVED what it's like to be trapped in a neighborhood where violent crime is chronic. Some of them still do.
This is a self-made woman from immigrant roots who pulled herself up by her bootstraps. How much more conservative can you get than that?
One thing that I like about America is that we had a tendency to see dissent as valuable. The more eyes we have looking at a problem, the greater the odds of finding a workable solution. It's harder, at times, and more complicated, to have more people involved. But, in the long run, it makes us stronger. And that's what she is going to bring to the Supreme COurt...new eyes.
The law is fluid. It's ever changing. It's constantly being revised and reinterpreted. Diversity, in that setting, is a STRENGTH.