Sotomayor dissent freaks out emotional conservatives

The sudden insistence on “color blindness” when it works to the advantage of the majority, is the latest iteration in the attack on minorities in the U.S.

In her “blistering” dissent in the recent Supreme Court case where the majority allowed the voters of Michigan to rule out affirmative action as university administrators search for ways to insure diversity at their schools, Justice Sotomayor dispassionately goes through the history of race relations in our country.

She cites example after example where the majority lawmakers in various cities and states react to attempts to implement the Constitution by changing the rules to insure the status quo.

Reading her dissent, which I recommend to all, I was reminded of this drawing from my archive, published in 2005 when the Senate of the United States apologized for our nation’s shameful behavior over our history. There was a conservative backlash then, as there is now, against facing the reality of our ignominious behavior.  Sotomayor is accused by conservatives of being “legally illiterate”, “overly emotional” and of being “consumed by race.”

The sudden insistence on “color blindness” when it works to the advantage of the majority, whether intentional or not, is the latest iteration in the “blistering” attack on minorities in the U.S.