Sessions Treats White Male Nominees Differently Than Female Latina Nominees

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Supreme Court
Posted on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 12:52:42 PM EST
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For Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, white men deserve preferential treatment. Given his stated sympathies for the KKK, this is hardly surpising. But it is worth noting. In his opening statement, Sessions said, Sessions said:

I will not vote for — no senator should vote for — an individual nominated by any President who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices, or sympathies to sway their decision in favor of, or against, parties before the court.

(Emphasis supplied.) Yet, Sessions voted for Samuel Alito, who testified in his confirmation hearings that he does take his own personal background and sympathies into account as a judge:

Sessions demands preferential treatment for white men. He clearly applies a stricter standard to persons who are not white men. Given his history, this is hardly surprising. But it is also the perfect embodiment of the Republican philosophy.

h/t to Media Matters. Speaking for me only

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Sessions Treats White Male Nominees Differently Than Female Latina Nominees | 84 comments (84 topical)

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I found it remarkable (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Steve M on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 01:03:49 PM EST

that in the course of arguing that Judge Sotomayor could have voted for rehearing the Ricci case en banc, Sessions just had to point out that Judge Cabranes is "another judge of Puerto Rican heritage." What kind of mindset deems that to be a relevant fact to point out? Does he realize he is on television?

: Republicans are determined to (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by MO Blue on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 01:07:55 PM EST

have hispanics vote Democratic for the next several years.

: He doesn't realize anything (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Dadler on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 01:13:00 PM EST

He only hears what he wants to hear, sees what he wants to see. Truly remarkable the caliber of sociopathy evidenced.

: all whites judges think the same (none / 0) (#11)
by lilybart on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 01:33:46 PM EST

so it must also be true of PRican judges.
OMG there are so many stupid Americans and a lot of them are also Senators.

: Republicans (none / 0) (#43)
by Socraticsilence on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:58:18 PM EST

want to see how much of the vote they get if they manage to alienate everyone who isn't a White Christian Male.

actually (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by TeresaInPa on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 01:47:57 PM EST

I think this is true of men in the democratic party too. Maybe not to as high a degree. But it seems that even those embracing a black man (who I think is more old white boys club than his skin color would indicate) feel giving men preferential treatment is no problem.
I have found over the years that there are as man bigots and sexists in the democratic party as the republican.
As far as Sotomayor, I am bothered by the things she ssid too, mostly because all my liberal white guilt is gone and I see things differently than I did a few years ago. But she is a good candidate and I have no doubt that she will be confirmed.
Next up, how about a truly brilliant black woman. Lesbian black woman would be great, but I mean really brilliant, she could even be a pro-choice republican moderate. I think that would be great.

no way (5.00 / 3) (#14)
by CST on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 01:54:38 PM EST

there is no one like Sessions in the democratic party. Not even close. That doesn't mean there aren't bigots. But there are varying degrees of everything.

I'm glad your "white liberal guilt" is gone, but that doesn't mean racism is.


BTD was talking about (none / 0) (#18)
by TeresaInPa on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:03:58 PM EST

I thought from his comments, the whole republican parties operating principals. I didn't say there was anyone like Sessions, though I am sure there is, just not anyone willing to admit it. But that is because I have been around liberal white men all my life and believe me, they have no clue how sexist and racist they can be.
But IMO, I think that many liberals do not see how they give minorities less credit for being able to work out their own lives and problems, feeling the need to always cut black people a break as if they were lesser people is racism.


: Whether or not (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by CST on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:15:35 PM EST

there are members of the Democratic part who are bigots (and there certainly are), it is not currently part of the mainstream democratic platform to demand preferential treatment for white men. It is part of the republican platform.
Do you feel the same way about cutting women a break? It's not about being lessor people. It's about facing greater adversity. The largest benefactors of affirmative action are women, btw.

Yeah (5.00 / 0) (#15)
by squeaky on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:01:07 PM EST

Sexism and racism is not bound by color of skin or gender. Remember what happened to the black women in the feminist movement when the white women made social advances?


nothing really (none / 0) (#20)
by TeresaInPa on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:08:11 PM EST

at least not at the hands of white women if that is what you are implying. The whole story about Black women being rejected and held down by white women is some what of a myth. Black women, like white women are/were "held down" by the white male power structure and for black women and now white women, just the male power structure.
Here is how it goes in terms of power/income/ advancement etc.
White men
Minority men
women


Wait are you honestly claiming that (5.00 / 3) (#40)
by Socraticsilence on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:55:22 PM EST

White Women have it harder than all men- not just white men, because statistically that's incredibly false- Black and Hispanic men have higher rates of unemployment, lower income, and much higher incarceration rates than White women, as well as less access to higher education- seriously, your claims are false on their face.


Re: above (5.00 / 1) (#53)
by shoulin4 on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 03:20:13 PM EST

Haha, wow. Not going to even touch that one.

On a more serious note, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!


OMG (5.00 / 1) (#54)
by CST on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 03:22:15 PM EST

SO EXCITED!!!!


Weeee! (none / 0) (#55)
by shoulin4 on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 03:27:38 PM EST

Are you going to a midnight showing?!

(sorry btd for being off topic)


no :( (none / 0) (#58)
by CST on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 03:32:37 PM EST

gotta wait until tommorow. I wouldn't want to waste it by falling asleep. Way too tired.


: Oh no! (none / 0) (#60)
by shoulin4 on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 03:40:01 PM EST

See, I'm gonna drink myself to heart-attack's worth of coke. No sleeping for me.

Title Mix-Up (none / 0) (#77)
by shoulin4 on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 05:09:00 PM EST

(I've been rereading all of the books lately, so sorry)

*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

perhaps I need a cat-nap . . .


And if you are handicaped... (5.00 / 0) (#59)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 03:37:57 PM EST

...you fall to the bottom no matter your skin color or sex.


certainly not (none / 0) (#24)
by CST on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:19:11 PM EST

income or advancement.


Nonsense (none / 0) (#26)
by squeaky on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:21:21 PM EST

White women, or anyone in America have no claim to being immune from our endemic social problem of racism and sexism. That is utter nonsense. You sound like Sessions.


How? (none / 0) (#28)
by Jjc2008 on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:27:30 PM EST

What power did white women have in civil rights issues?
I am curious. My mother was an immigrant white women who worked in factories from age 13 until her early death in her fifties. She was treated like scum by the male managers. She voted for JFK and for LBJ but her and the women like her had no power. They worked in factories; they cleaned houses and dormitories.

How did they participate in keeping black women out of anything?


Seems Obvious To Me (5.00 / 0) (#30)
by squeaky on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:32:28 PM EST

Same way as it always has been done. People of color are at the bottom in the US. The fact that someone is oppressed doesn't make them immune to being an oppressor.

Each wave of immigrants in the US learned that they were one notch above the lowest in our society, so they had a group to repeat the oppression heaped on them. That group was African Americans whose families are as american as the lilly white Mayflower wasps, as they have been here almost as long.


Only two choices in life, (none / 0) (#32)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 02:36:25 PM EST

you are either my savior or you are my oppressor.

Makes it easy to keep track.
