Buchanan, Graham Mistaken on Race

Martine Kaplan — July 17, 2009 – 12:11 pm | Civil Rights | Domestic Policy | GOP Hypocrisies | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

If confirmed, Sonia Sotomayor will be only the third non-white justice and the third female justice to serve on the Court. Race has come up repeatedly during her confirmation hearings, especially her decision in Ricci v. DeStefano and “wise Latina” comments. Republican Senators and commentators have attacked her for these comments, judicial history and involvement in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Two Republicans gave their take on race in politics yesterday. Appearing on the Rachel Maddow Show yesterday, Pat Buchanan defended his belief that Sotomayor “isn’t qualified” to serve on the Supreme Court and is “an affirmative action appointment” by President Barack Obama. When Maddow pointed out to him that 108 out of 110 Supreme Court justices have been white, Buchanan took off:

White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks.

Buchanan is only right on one point: white males have dominated our history, but that’s only because they are the ones who wouldn’t let almost anyone else contribute to much of our history. They were the slave owners and the people who segregated our society and our military. He cannot argue that this is reason for minorities not to serve our country in the highest levels of government. It is not reason to deny anyone further opportunities (or give them any, either). Sotomayor is in front of the Judiciary Committee because of her own accomplishments and intellect, and those two things more than qualify her to sit on the Court.

Then there’s Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who told panelist Linda Chavez, an anti-affirmative action activist, that Republicans hire on the basis of race:

I know that Republicans sit down and think, ‘ok, we’ve got some power now. Let’s make sure that we let the whole country know the Republican party is not just a party of short white guys.’ What I want to tell the country is that Republicans very much do sit down and think about political picks and appointments in a political sense to try to show that we’re a party that looks at all Americans and wants to give an opportunity. And that’s just life. And that’s not a bad thing.

Together, should we take Buchanan and Graham’s comments as a pretty good summary of their Party’s current position on race? I hope not.

Comments

There are no comments for this entry