"What about those far more famous leaders in Hume’s own camp who insistently cry “racist” — and in public forums — without any credible justification whatsoever? These are the “certain people” Hume conspicuously didn’t mention. They include Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, both of whom labeled Sonia Sotomayor a racist. "
The flap of Sotomayor stems from her saying the following - "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,"
By definition, this statement is both racist and sexist. The factors in it determining who makes a better conclusion are race (whether the person is hispanic or white) and gender.
I looked up "racist" in dictionary.com and got the following definition:
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
In advancing the notion that "more often than not" a better conclusion would be made by a Latina woman vs. a white male, Sotomayor is using race to distinguish quality of judgement.
There can certainly be a debate about whether uttering a racist statement makes one a racist. But I don't understand what argument can be made that the statement itself is not racist. So it is not without "any credible justifcation whatsoever" that someone who makes racist statements would be called a racist. There is evidence of racism.
Given the tenor of the article, it seems like Rich isn't particularly fond of Republicans. To be fair, I'm not particularly fond of most of the policies of Democrats. But that doesn't mean that everything someone on the other side says has no creedence to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment