Racial Advances and Setbacks in Politics
What do Barack Obama, Kamala Harris and Sonia Sotomayor have in common? They’ve all made groundbreaking strides in politics. Obama is, of course, the first black president. Kamala Harris is California’s first attorney general of black and South Asian descent, and Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court. Their rise to prominence underscores the progress that’s been made in both race relations and politics in the 21st century. During this same period, however, the amount of race-based political attacks and smear campaigns has risen. Evidently, not every segment of society is ready for change.
The funny thing about racist smear campaigns is that they don’t discriminate. Blacks, white, Republicans and Democrats have all been the victims of such underhanded political tactics. Take Arizona Sen. John McCain. In the 2000 presidential election, a whispering campaign targeting the senator insinuated that his adopted Bangladeshi daughter, Bridget, was actually an illegitimate child he fathered with a black woman. This rumor emerged as one of the reasons McCain lost the South Carolina primary to George W. Bush. When McCain faced off against Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh spread a rumor that Michelle Obama had been videotaped using the racial slur “whitey” but no such videotape existed. Still, those who wanted an excuse not to vote for the Obamas found one via this whisper campaign.More »
The story of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to be nominated to the Supreme Court, is inspirational. Raised by a single mother in a low-income section of the Bronx, Sotomayor attended a prestigious high school and went on to the Ivy League. From there, she began her legal career—working her way from lawyer to judge. After catching the eye of President Barack Obama, Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court seemed inevitable. But when word spread that Sotomayor had described herself as a “wise Latina” with unique insight to make legal decisions in a speech years before, foes of the Obama administration twisted the remark to suggest that Sotomayor had argued she was wiser than her white counterparts. To thwart Sotomayor’s rise to the Supreme Court, conservatives not only scrutinized her words but her reputation for being a “difficult” judge. Feminists argued that the temperament of a male Supreme Court nominee likely would not have been raised as an issue. Despite efforts to brand Sotomayor as angry and anti-white, she held steady during the confirmation hearings and emerged in 2009 as the first Puerto Rican woman on the Supreme Court.More »
•Race-Based Political Smear Campaigns
The funny thing about racist smear campaigns is that they don’t discriminate. Blacks, white, Republicans and Democrats have all been the victims of such underhanded political tactics. Take Arizona Sen. John McCain. In the 2000 presidential election, a whispering campaign targeting the senator insinuated that his adopted Bangladeshi daughter, Bridget, was actually an illegitimate child he fathered with a black woman. This rumor emerged as one of the reasons McCain lost the South Carolina primary to George W. Bush. When McCain faced off against Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh spread a rumor that Michelle Obama had been videotaped using the racial slur “whitey” but no such videotape existed. Still, those who wanted an excuse not to vote for the Obamas found one via this whisper campaign.More »
•Sonia Sotomayor Biography
The story of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to be nominated to the Supreme Court, is inspirational. Raised by a single mother in a low-income section of the Bronx, Sotomayor attended a prestigious high school and went on to the Ivy League. From there, she began her legal career—working her way from lawyer to judge. After catching the eye of President Barack Obama, Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court seemed inevitable. But when word spread that Sotomayor had described herself as a “wise Latina” with unique insight to make legal decisions in a speech years before, foes of the Obama administration twisted the remark to suggest that Sotomayor had argued she was wiser than her white counterparts. To thwart Sotomayor’s rise to the Supreme Court, conservatives not only scrutinized her words but her reputation for being a “difficult” judge. Feminists argued that the temperament of a male Supreme Court nominee likely would not have been raised as an issue. Despite efforts to brand Sotomayor as angry and anti-white, she held steady during the confirmation hearings and emerged in 2009 as the first Puerto Rican woman on the Supreme Court.More »
