Was Sandra Day O'Connor the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court?

[Bill in PA]

I did some research, and news reports that Ms. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court are clearly incorrect. Sandra Day O'Connor's mother, Ada Mae Wilkey was born in Mexico in 1904, so she was the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court.

According to the Census definition, "Hispanic" means "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race". By this definition, Ms. O'Connor is Hispanic since her mother was born a Mexican citizen.

I suspect that a complete review of the family backgrounds of the other Supreme Court justices would find several more who have at least one ancestor who meets the definition of Hispanic. Any of the first Anglo settlers to Utah and Texas when those areas were still part of Mexico should meet the definition. So should residents of Louisiana before 1803, when it was part of the Spanish empire. If you have even one Hispanic ancestor, then you should meet the definition of Hispanic.

Perhaps the news reports should say Ms. Sotomayor is the first stereotypically Hispanic or first openly Hispanic.

[Drawz]

:Yawn:

[mdk190]

Good grief! Is this what passes for good conversation in conservative circles nowadays? How dull!

[Samm]

I did some research, and news reports that Ms. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court are clearly incorrect. Sandra Day O'Connor's mother, Ada Mae Wilkey was born in Mexico in 1904, so she was the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court.

According to the Census definition, "Hispanic" means "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race". By this definition, Ms. O'Connor is Hispanic since her mother was born a Mexican citizen.

I suspect that a complete review of the family backgrounds of the other Supreme Court justices would find several more who have at least one ancestor who meets the definition of Hispanic. Any of the first Anglo settlers to Utah and Texas when those areas were still part of Mexico should meet the definition. So should residents of Louisiana before 1803, when it was part of the Spanish empire. If you have even one Hispanic ancestor, then you should meet the definition of Hispanic.

Perhaps the news reports should say Ms. Sotomayor is the first stereotypically Hispanic or first openly Hispanic.

I did not know that... interesting. But I think the way Hispanic is determined by the EEO is by surname... regardless of where your parents came from. (Legally change your name to Gomez and you will qualify as a minority for purposes of employment.) Of course that would mean that Justice Benjamin Cardozo (who served 1932-1938) whose parents were Portuguese, should be considered the first.

[Samm]

Good grief! Is this what passes for good conversation in conservative circles nowadays? How dull!

Good grief... is this what passes as clever repartee from Liberals nowadays? :rolleyes:

[FreeAndClear]

I did some research, and news reports that Ms. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court are clearly incorrect. Sandra Day O'Connor's mother, Ada Mae Wilkey was born in Mexico in 1904, so she was the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court.

According to the Census definition, "Hispanic" means "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race". By this definition, Ms. O'Connor is Hispanic since her mother was born a Mexican citizen.

I suspect that a complete review of the family backgrounds of the other Supreme Court justices would find several more who have at least one ancestor who meets the definition of Hispanic. Any of the first Anglo settlers to Utah and Texas when those areas were still part of Mexico should meet the definition. So should residents of Louisiana before 1803, when it was part of the Spanish empire. If you have even one Hispanic ancestor, then you should meet the definition of Hispanic.

Perhaps the news reports should say Ms. Sotomayor is the first stereotypically Hispanic or first openly Hispanic.

Somebody was aruing that Cardozo was the first Hispanic justice because his ancestors hailed from Spain back in the 15th century and that held about as much water as this argument.

Hispanic means hispanic and I don't care what the census definition is. She was born and raised hispanic. Simply because O'Connor had a Mexican mother makes her no more Hispanic then it makes Obama a Kenyan.

I am not trying to be deragatory towards your argument, I just find it interesting

[CaughtInTheMiddle]

Good grief! Is this what passes for good conversation in conservative circles nowadays?

yes

[TinCan]

Hispanic means hispanic and I don't care what the census definition is. She was born and raised hispanic. Simply because O'Connor had a Mexican mother makes her no more Hispanic then it makes Obama a Kenyan.

I am not trying to be deragatory towards your argument, I just find it interesting

Interesting....:think:

They both had "hispanic" mothers but only one of them was "raised" hispanic. Then O'Connor's father was an "anglo" therefore she must be 100% "anglo" but Obama's father was Kenyan therefore he must be, what? It's just all so confusing, this line of logic that you are stating. :confused:

[tinydancer]

Thanks for the background on Justice O'Connor. I didn't know that.

I do find it fascinating that Obama's black polygamist father takes precedence over his white absolutely stunning feminist mother.

Dad = black/ all that the media needs is color.

Mom = nothing in the media even though she was a fabulous feminist way before her time.

[Samm]

Somebody was aruing that Cardozo was the first Hispanic justice because his ancestors hailed from Spain back in the 15th century and that held about as much water as this argument.

Hispanic means hispanic and I don't care what the census definition is. She was born and raised hispanic. Simply because O'Connor had a Mexican mother makes her no more Hispanic then it makes Obama a Kenyan.

I am not trying to be deragatory towards your argument, I just find it interesting

By that metric Sotomayor is not Hispanic either; she was born in America, in the Bronx, in the shadow of Yankee stadium. That's about as American is you can get. It does not matter that her parents were Hispanic any more then that Cardozo's and O'Connor's were. By that metric, she is no more Hispanic than I am Ole's son from Sweden. No... she is getting the publicity on this (or perhaps I should say Obama is...) because she looks Hispanic and speaks Hispanic not because she is Hispanic.

[conphu1]

Her mother may have been born in Mexico, but Sandra Day was:

Born: August 26, 1930
El Paso, Texas

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ni-Pe/O-Connor-Sandra-Day.html

[Samm]

Her mother may have been born in Mexico, but Sandra Day was:

Born: August 26, 1930
El Paso, Texas

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ni-Pe/O-Connor-Sandra-Day.html

Thank you for that completely immaterial piece of trivia. :razz:


BTW... welcome back. ;)

[WildRose]

Hispanic means hispanic and I don't care what the census definition is. She was born and raised hispanic. Simply because O'Connor had a Mexican mother makes her no more Hispanic then it makes Obama a Kenyan.
Since she was born and raised in NY, by your definition Sotomayor isn't "hispanic" either...:rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sotomayor

Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico) descent and was born in the Bronx (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bronx). Her father died when she was nine, and she was subsequently raised by her mother. Sotomayor graduated with an A.B. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts), summa cum laude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_cum_laude), from Princeton University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_University) in 1976 and received her J.D. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor) from Yale Law School (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Law_School) in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Law_Journal). She worked as an assistant district attorney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistant_district_attorney) in New York for five years before entering private practice in 1984. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LatinoJustice_PRLDEF), the State of New York Mortgage Agency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_New_York_Mortgage_Agency), and the New York City Campaign Finance Board (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Campaign_Finance_Board). Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Southern_Dist rict_of_New_York) by President George H. W. Bush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush) in 1991, and her nomination was confirmed in 1992.

[Bill in PA]

My point in the original post is that it is possible for many people to qualify as a "minority" who clearly do not fit the normal image.

I doubt that many people would say that Sandra Day O'Connor's grandchildren should receive some sort preference in college admissions, hiring, etc. because their great grandmother was born in Mexico. But according to current policies, they could claim a preference. Of course so could Sonia Sotomayor's grandchildren even if their last name is O'Connor, and they don't speak any Spanish.

In a perverse way the current situation is similar to the situation under government-run segregation in the South of 50 years ago. In those days people had every incentive to hide any non-white lineage, because they would be forced to go to inferior "colored" schools and because they faced severe discrimination in hiring and other problems.

If there are policies that favor certain ethnic or racial classifications, then people have a strong incentive present their family backgrounds to give them the right status. Unless policies change, I suspect that we see an increasing number of English-speaking Hispanics whose only connection to Latin America is some long-dead ancestor.

[ThrowCop]

No, O'Conner wasn't the 1st Hispanic woman on the SCOTUS...

but man, I hate all the labels we apply for 1st this & that...

[Sknyluv]

??? So will conservatives sleep better tonight knowing Sotomayer wasn't the first Hispanic judge? I don't get it.

[Tulsa]

No, O'Conner wasn't the 1st Hispanic woman on the SCOTUS...

but man, I hate all the labels we apply for 1st this & that...

The labels are getting absolutely pointless and we should do away with all of them. We all came from somewhere that isn't where we are and at the end of the day, none of that matters. We are who we inherently are, like us or hate us.

We are Americans - a muttly blood line at best but we've done pretty well for ourselves over the vast years we've been around. Ultimately we all can trace our ancestry to Europe, Africa or China or parts in-between, but really, who cares?

It's ultimately what we do as an individual that defines our existence.

[Samm]

??? So will conservatives sleep better tonight knowing Sotomayer wasn't the first Hispanic judge? I don't get it.

You don't get it because that's not the issue... The issue is, will Liberals sleep better believing that Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Justice. :razz:

Conservative really don't give a **** about her ethnicity either way. We just don't think she is SC material. But hey... she might turn out ok... many a Justice has "surprised" the President that appointed them. ;)

[ThrowCop]

You don't get it because that's not the issue... The issue is, will Liberals sleep better believing that Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Justice. :razz:

Conservative really don't give a **** about her ethnicity either way. We just don't think she is SC material. But hey... she might turn out ok... many a Justice has "surprised" the President that appointed them. ;)Samm,

Perhaps you missed all the dismissive threads about her not being the 1st Hispanic.

Or the threads falsely proclaiming Obama as 8% black.


And as a Conservative, I believe she is certainly SCOTUS material, just not what I would want as a justice.

She has a high degree of qualifications but I really don't think we need another justice who I believe will side against the individual on the Court.

[Samm]

Samm,

Perhaps you missed all the dismissive threads about her not being the 1st Hispanic.

Or the threads falsely proclaiming Obama as 8% black.


And as a Conservative, I believe she is certainly SCOTUS material, just not what I would want as a justice.

She has a high degree of qualifications but I really don't think we need another justice who I believe will side against the individual on the Court.

Oh I have seen the threads... most of them are nonsense... as is this one. I've just been having a little fun. ;)

Perhaps I overstated it by saying she is not SC material... I agree with you; she is qualified. What I mean is, that her case history and her public statements show that she does not entirely buy into the "justice is blind" concept and that she has a "progressive" view of the Constitution. That is not the type of Justice that Conservatives want to see on the Court, regardless of her credentials.

But I stand by my statement... Conservatives (the majority of) do not give a **** about her ethnicity either way. The overt focus on racial, ethnic and gender background is a Liberal concept that is not important... sometimes is even repulsive... to most Conservatives. When will Liberals ever begin to judge a person by the strength of their character and not the color of their skin, their ethnic background and their sex?

[gdoane]

??? So will conservatives sleep better tonight knowing Sotomayer wasn't the first Hispanic judge? I don't get it.

It's cool that Republicans have a better civil rights track record than Democrats ever thought of. For example, the first woman Senator in the USA, do you know who that was?

Jeannette Rankin, Congresswoman from Montana, elected to Congress before women even had the right to vote and she was a By God Republican.

Abraham Lincoln, the President who ended Slavery was a Republican.

The only admitted KKK member in the Senate is Robert Byrd (D-SC) and he holds the filibuster record in the Senate AGAINST passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Democrats talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk while Republicans had a hand in every civil rights advancement ever made in the USA.

I love seeing the hypocrisy of Democrats exposed for the world to see.