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How affirmative action divides two justices

January 13, 2013 4:45 PM

As we await a ruling on affirmative action, the two minority Supreme Court justices, Sotomayor and Thomas, are deeply divided.

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by girlfeliz January 23, 2013 1:23 PM EST
Thomas explains that Affirmative Action taints ALL educated blacks. Unfortunately, like Sotomayor, he doesn't explain how this government policy greatly slows black educational/economic progress (see Richard Sanders' Wall Street article). In short, AA has good intentions but it gives blacks (and Latinos) a quick route to 1) being college drop-outs or getting unmarketable degrees, and 2) earning insufficient incomes to pay student loans, maintain good credit, or buy a house and raise a family. Maybe the Supreme Court will end this injustice by ruling against AA in June. If not, when the economy improves, black and Latino students will continue to be handicapped by AA. I'm a black, Spanish-speaking, female graduate of a Tier 1 law school. I don't doubt Sotomayor's intelligence. However, like many other highly ambitious minorities I know, Sotomayor ignores the detrimental effects of AA on the majority of black, Latino, and Native American college students. Without AA, Sotomayor might not have achieved her goal to become a Supreme Court Justice. However, without AA, more (probably millions more) minorities would have become college graduates and achieved economic self-sufficiency. Essentially, Sotomayor represents the selfish, wealthy, black SLAVEOWNERS who financially supported the Confederacy. Conversely, Thomas represents the great, black abolitionist Frederick Douglass who championed the socio-economic progress of ALL black people.
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by girlfeliz January 23, 2013 1:20 PM EST
Thomas explains that Affirmative Action taints ALL educated blacks. Unfortunately, like Sotomayor, he doesn't explain how this government policy greatly slows black educational/economic progress (see Richard Sanders' Wall Street article). In short, AA has good intentions but it gives blacks (and Latinos) a quick route to 1) being college drop-outs or getting unmarketable degrees, and 2) earning insufficient incomes to pay student loans, maintain good credit, or buy a house and raise a family. Maybe the Supreme Court will end this injustice by ruling against AA in June. If not, when the economy improves, black and Latino students will continue to be handicapped by AA. I'm a black, Spanish-speaking, female graduate of a Tier 1 law school. I don't doubt Sotomayor's intelligence. However, like many other highly ambitious minorities I know, Sotomayor ignores the detrimental effects of AA on the majority of black, Latino, and Native American college students. Without AA, Sotomayor might not have achieved her goal to become a Supreme Court Justice. However, without AA, more (probably millions more) minorities would have become college graduates and achieved economic self-sufficiency. Essentially, Sotomayor represents the selfish, wealthy, black SLAVEOWNERS who financially supported the Confederacy. Conversely, Thomas represents the great, black abolitionist Frederick Douglass who championed the socio-economic progress of ALL black people.
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by tld211 January 21, 2013 9:33 PM EST
1. One must be an outstanding student otherwise AA can't help.
2. AA might get you in the door at Yale. However, to stay in and to graduate you have to work super hard.
3. Justice Sotomayor passed both challenges.
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by cconover4 January 21, 2013 12:21 PM EST
How can Judge Thomas say that his Yale degree is worth .15 when he is sitting on the Supreme Court? He would not be on SCOTUS if not for his Yale degree, affirmative action or not.

I am an upper-middle class white male and I used to be against AA, but, what I realize is that Justice Sotomayor brings a unique perspective to the court because of her race and her experiences, something that is very much needed. The unfortunate thing is that GW Bush was able to appoint a black man to SCOTUS who, because of his anger, has the same conservative opinions as a rich white man. So, in his case, we don't get the diversity that is needed on SCOTUS.
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