The two sides of Sotomayor
A Blue-collar upbringing, but now a wealthy member of the power elite
By SHARON THEIMER
updated 9:54 a.m. CT, Fri., May 29, 2009
WASHINGTON - There are two sides to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor: a Latina from a blue-collar family and a wealthy member of America's power elite.
The White House portrays Sotomayor as a living image of the American dream, though its telling of the rags-to-riches story emphasizes the rags, a more politically appealing narrative, and plays down the riches.
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On ethnicity, Sotomayor herself has recognized — and contributed to — the dichotomy. She proudly highlights her Puerto Rican roots but hasn't always liked it when others have. She once took issue with a prospective employer who singled her out as a Latina with questions she viewed as offensive yet has shown a keen ethnic consciousness herself.
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"For those of you on the West Coast who do not know what that term means: I am a born and bred New Yorker of Puerto Rican-born parents who came to the states during World War II," she explained.
Yet years ago, during a recruiting dinner in law school at Yale, Sotomayor objected when a law firm partner asked whether she would have been admitted to the school if she weren't Puerto Rican, and whether law firms did a disservice by hiring minority students the firms know are unqualified and will ultimately be fired.
Afterward, Sotomayor confronted the partner about the questions, rejected his insistence that he meant no harm and turned down his invitation for further job interviews. She filed a discrimination complaint against the firm with the university, which could have barred the firm from recruiting on campus. She won a formal apology from the firm.
You mean Sonia Sotomayor didn't let someone clown her in an interview? That she just didn't shin and grin and go along with the insult? That, she, gasp, stood up for herself?
No!
Who told her that she could do that, and not just smile and go, " I'ze so grateful that you'd even consider me."
Here's more:
She now earns more than $200,000 a year and owns a condominium in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood of million-dollar-plus homes. Her brother, Dr. Juan Sotomayor, is a physician in North Syracuse, N.Y., whose practice doesn't accept Medicaid or Medicare — programs for the poor and elderly — according to its Web site.
Yes, she makes more than $200,000. She made all of $205,000 last year. Oh yeah, she's rolling in the dough.
Um, what the hell does her brother have to do with anything?
Just asking.
You can read the rest of this AP gem at the link above.
Someone on JJP asked if it had been this bad on Candidate Obama. My response was HELL YEAH. Remember the piece from the UK complaining that Michelle Obama wasn't 'poor enough'? That because she didn't grow up in The Projects, that, of course, meant, that she lived in luxury? Remember the piece on the Obama's MORTGAGE, questioning, ' how could two Black folks get those kind of GENEROUS terms, cause you know, 2 Black Harvard Law graduates just couldn't have gotten a regular, non-subprime mortgage.' Then, there were the snide articles on the Obama's home in Kenwood with the ' Who the hell do these Uppity Negroes think they are, living in a decent home?' undertone.
So, this attack on Judge Sotomayor, is same old, same old. How dare this ---"person-who-shouldn't-be-living-decently" actually live decently. How dare someone of color who went to Princeton and Yale, who has been successful in their career, live like any other WHITE graduate of Princeton and who was successful in their career. As for Judge Sotomayor being part of 'the elite', $1 million dollar apartment on the Isle of Manhattan isn't like $1 million dollar apartment in St. Louis, or Indianapolis, or Dallas. She probably has a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with a semi-decent size open living space.
I like what Booman Tribune said about this:
How One Lives Says a Lot
by BooMan
Fri May 29th, 2009 at 10:15:06 AM EST
What I find interesting is that she lives in a condo in Greenwich Village and that her only other assets are between $15,000-$65,000 in checking and savings accounts. She doesn't list massive investments in Goldman Sachs or Intel or AIG. Her total annual income, which combines her check for being a judge with her check for teaching at Columbia University, is $205,000. That seems a fair but modest amount of income for someone of her academic achievements, but it is not enough for her to be impacted by Obama's tax hike on America's wealthiest individuals.
She doesn't live in a multi-million parkside penthouse on the Upper East Side. She has a condo in the Village. If you've ever been to the Village you know that it marches to its own peculiar beat. It's the center of gay life in New York City, but it is also pulsing with multicultural artistic creativity and an intellectualism that combines the legacy of the Beat Generation with the rigors of New York University's curriculum. You cannot walk the streets of the Village and call it your home without understanding modern progressivism at its core.
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1 comment:
Incredible!
After reading this.... (about how she stood up for herself) I like this woman even more. Wow!
Folks like her are the real deal. Most people would have played along and kept quiet.
And it's interesting that folks are asking if it was this bad for others like Obama. The way that the Republican Swift-Boating tries to destroy people is eye opening to folks who may not have been aware.
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