White, Anglo-Saxon Male Judgments

"What, if anything, are we to make of these discrepancies between actual religious affiliation numbers and representation on the Court?"

That members of other religious affiliations ( e.g. Protestants and Pagans) have failed to develop leaders in the law department???

yarnm57, that is a very elaborate argument for "two wrongs make a right". Affirmative action and such decisions are, on principle, wrong. While they may have been justified as bitter medicine for the ills of society for a time, it is increasingly difficult to justify for the longer term.

You assert that pervasive discrimination persists in society and it is perpetrated by white males. I find that difficult to believe. The persistent discrimination in society that is illustrated by statistical proofs is due mostly to self inflicted injuries, the rapid rise of people from many Asian cultures in our society is belies claims that it is due to discrimination against minorities.

Ed Byron Adams - Your argument sounds very reasonable, and thus it is used, in various forms, by many who feel as you do.

Here's the thing: The white male has long dominated this society. Yes, things are gradually changing, but don't fool yourself, white males (and I am one myself) still get the lion's share of the wealth and privilege in our society.

One of the "sins" of white male society has been a persistent marginalization of people and cultures of color. Again, this is gradually improving, but it is far from gone. When a group that one associates with, either by choice or by nature, is marginalized, the natural reaction is to pull together and raise voices about the pride you have in that group. Let's face it; conservatives are currently being marginalized due to an overwhelming rejection of the Bush years by a majority of Americans. And the response is to raise their voices and band together. This is human nature.

While I am a white male, I don't really associate myself with any ethnic, racial, religious, or other group at all. And I am the first to say that a world where nobody associates themselves with any group that defines them as separate from society would be a great world. But we are a long way from that, and as long as one group belittles another group, groups will remain intact, with their defenses bulwarked. It just so happens that the white male "group" has done the lion's share of the oppression in America, back then and still today. Until that passes, and until it is long past, white males are not going to be afforded the same outspoken self-identity privileges that others will in our society. It's not every white male's fault - it sure isn't my fault - but it seems to me the best way to move on is to go perhaps just a little overboard at not being a bigot. We can afford it.

The difference between Anglo-Saxon's and everyone else is that all other groups are encouraged to show ethnic solidarity, while for WASPS, any such tendency would be condemned in the public square.

Justice in this country should be based on INDIVIDUAL accountability, not group identity. Somehow, it has gotten perverted in this country and individuals who are white and male can be held accountable for their fathers' previous misdeeds, real and imagined, while nobody else suffers guilt by association.

The amazing thing about this is the narrow judgment rendered in both cases -- against white males who presumably cannot understand how the law should be applied in all cases and against ethnics and females who presumably could.

Our judicial system specifies that a person be tried by a "jury of peers" but that has never happened and never will. Nor can any one person -- male, female, black, white or any other color -- judge fairly any and all situations.

The entire issue is spurious. "Things" are different for each person -- the white males have done a pretty good job of building the best country in the world. A female hispanic won't do any better or any worse. She'll just be different -- as would any white male who happened to be chosen for the post.

That sounds nice, Fr. Spong, but isn't your church in schism right now between the Communions in white, educated countries who want to welcome homosexuals, and the growing African ones who hate them?

The experience of being a minority doesn't make one right.

With the ascension of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the religious composition of the Court will be:

Roman Catholic 67% (24% of the population);
Jewish 22% (1.7% of the population)
Protestant 11% (51% of the population);
Other, unaffiliated, Atheist/Agnostic, etc. 0% (16% of the population).

What, if anything, are we to make of these discrepancies between actual religious affiliation numbers and representation on the Court?

With the ascension of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the religious composition of the Court will be:

Roman Catholic 67% (24% of the population);
Jewish 22% (1.7% of the population)
Protestant 11% (51% of the population);
Other, unaffiliated, Atheist/Agnostic, etc. 0% (16% of the population).

What, if anything, are we to make of these discrepancies between actual religious affiliation numbers and representation on the Court?

The obliviousness of some of the questioners with regard to their own lack of 'transparency' comes partly from their ignorance that they, as men, as white me, as elite men, are not the standard measure of what is human!

We are all more than what shows in our faces and more than our genital equipage.

Someone during the formative years of these members of Congress ought to have pointed out that they are a relatively minor segment of the human race.

I couldn't agree more. You could go on to note that if the Constitution were viewed in a strictly constructionist vein, people lacking property (white males inlcuded) would also be second-class citizens. Racism in this country is a sub-set of a long-standing elitism staged by the wealthy.

Wonderful article! Its good to know there are other white males out there that see things the way they REALLY are. All people are going to be bias based on who they are and where they come from. You just have to know when to draw the line. I believe the Sotomayor will know.