Blog #22: Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor is a Puerto Rican female who was raised in the projects of the Bronx, New York. When I started my research for this blog the only information I could find for Sonia Sotomayor were comments on her excellence and her accomplishes, which were very lengthy as it was. I watched a video on YouTube titled “A biological sketch of Sonia Sotomayor” where Judge Sotomayor states that she never knew what it meant to be a minority until after she left to go college. Judge Sotomayor said that she was grew up with Puerto Ricans where everyone was the same and she was not seen as different, but at college she learned that other people had thoughts about minorities that she did not know until then.

“Senator Graham Gets Personal with Sonia Sotomayor” was another YouTube video I watched. This video demonstrates the different stereotypes that are attributed to men and women. Senator Graham attacked Judge Sotomayor’s temperament as a judge on the Second Circuit Appeals Court. He read anonymous comments that portrayed Judge Sotomayor as being a “terror on the bench”, “temperamental”, and that she “behaves out of control”. When Judge Sotomayor tried to respond to his remarks he would cut her off and move on to another comment. A man being referred to as “temperamental” has never been an issue because he is a man and that is a stereotypical quality. He is male so he is allowed to act and behave in that way. Sonia Sotomayor is a woman, and not only that, but a “hot tempered” Latina woman. I have heard people accuse Judge Sotomayor as being racist and that she practices reverse discrimination against white people. Judge Sotomayor is also working against remarks made that she was chosen as an “Affirmative Action pick”. From what I have read and seen in these videos it does not seem worth it to me to get into the law field or politics. The men continually steam roll over what women are saying and they attack personal attributes that have nothing to do with the issues at hand. It is women like Judge Sotomayor that help pave the way for other women.