Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

It is official. In a surprisingly swift nomination and confirmation process, the usually dysfunctional Congress has confirmed Sonia Sotomayor as the country's 111th Supreme Court justice. The Senate voted 68-31 in favor of her confirmation with nine Republicans joining the 59 Democrats; Senator Ted Kennedy was unfortunately too ill to come in and vote.

Sotomayor has an ivy league education, Princeton and Yale, 16 years on the bench, most recently as a Federal Appeals judge, and all of this was accomplished by a woman who grew up in the Bronx, NY housing projects. She has similar education and experience to our recently appointed Chief Justice, John Roberts, and even surpasses him in time served on the bench. In addition, it is a fact that she is the most qualified appointee in recent decades. Yet, she shall be remembered as the first Latin American to serve on the court.

Being the first Latin American and only the third woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court is not a bad thing, it is an extraordinary achievement. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the perceived threat to the white establishment was the overarching theme of her confirmation hearings. In fact, she was deemed a racist by some (read GOP) factions because she suggested that her unique experience might make her a better judge than her white counterparts. Yes, it may be horrible that she may rule in favor of keeping the white people down...NOT!

The ridiculousness of this assertion is, of course, the lesson that we must take from this historic occasion. This assertion is turning up everywhere as the white establishment (read closet racists) begin to feel more threatened by the success of minorities including and not limited to President Obama and Justice Sotomayor. Now that the minorities are starting to overcome, the "someday" when they will finally overcome is now creating a racial backlash unwittingly unleashed and mobilized by no other than Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin? Really? Well, when you think about it, she was the one who came out and whipped this brew into a frenzy. This is when we first saw the nastiest racist outbursts against then candidate Obama. Fox News and other self-described conservatives have been deviously fomenting racial dischord as they orchestrate blanket disapproval of all the Obama Administration's policies. Right now healthcare reform is front and center. I fear it will only get nastier from here.

However, in the meantime, we should applaud Sonia Sotomayor for her achievement because she really earned it.