Washington, D.C.â(ENEWSPF)â In his May 27 Washington Post column, George Will baselessly claimed that Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor “embraces identity politics, including the idea of categorical representation: A person is what his or her race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference is, and members of a particular category can be represented — understood, empathized with — only by persons of the same identity.” Will made this assertion after noting that, in a 2001 speech, Sotomayor said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” In fact, in that speech — almost immediately after the part Will quoted — Sotomayor stated that she “believe[s] that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable.”
