Judge Sonia Sotomayor was just voted on in the U.S. Senate and was confirmed in a 68-31 vote, with ailing Senator Kennedy not present but also a supporter. We now have the first woman of color and the first Latino ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. (She is also only the third woman out of about 111 justices who have ever served!)
(Photo Source: Wikipedia)
Senator Robert Menendez (NJ), the only Latino Democratic senator had this to say:
History awaits, and so does an anxious Hispanic community in this country the Senate’s lone Hispanic Democrat and the head of his party’s campaign arm, just minutes before the vote. When she places her hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office [scheduled for Saturday], the new portrait of the justices of the Supreme Court will clearly reflect who we are as a nation, what we stand for as a fair, just and hopeful people.
Yes, finally. There are about 47 million Latinos now in this country of about 300 million.
Fabulous news, and long overdue, as you say. Congratulations Justice Sotomayor!!!
How racist is america? We have a black president, plenty of successful, Black, Asian, and latino citizens. What do these people have in common? They are smart, talented and/or hard-working.
Look at the NBA — it’s proof that organizations (teams, companies, etc) are motivated by winning and money, not race. The hard-working and talented will continue to get richer and the others will stay relatively poorer. That’s captialism — not racism.
Gary,
Do you know *anything* about the actual history of this country and its policies affecting communities of color? Please, please, please do some reading around first.