It’s not that a white man can’t be as wise as wise Latina. In fact, a white man that has had the experience of living among poor people of color may have more wisdom to offer–in certain cases–than an elite Latina that did not have that experience. It’s the experience (plus reflection) that matters.
What I think Sotomayor was saying is that without women and people of color on courts. it is unlikely that there will be people on the court that will have the experience of coming out of poverty or being a woman or person of color (or both) in society, hence their ability to make a wise decision in cases that would affect such people is necessarily handicapped. This is not a radical racist view of the world. As Barry Schwartz (video below) reminds us, real wisdom depends on our moral will and not on sheer brilliance. Our moral will, in turn, is shaped by our experiences. And our experiences allow us to cultivate–god forbid–empathy.
Before the “wise Latina” comment, Republicans were latching on to Sotomayor’s assertion that a good should judge should have empathy and strive to imagine the real world consequences of her decisions. All that Sotomayor is saying is what all the ancients have said–the Greeks, the Toltecs, the Romans–virtually everybody: wisdom requires not only information, but also experience, understanding, and intuition. Even the latest social neuroscience is pointing in the direction that wisdom is hard-wired into certain regions of the brain that activate during moments of altruism and empathy.
Because we have to some extent a universal human condition, it is possible that a white man can be so reflective that he will in fact grasp the implications of a decision affecting a group with which he has had no experience with. In fact, this sort of empathy was present in the landmark case Lawrence v. Texas, where an all hetersexual majority invalidated a state statute against sodomy based on how it affected the lives of homosexual men in Texas. But only the greatest justices have exhibited this kind of empathy. Most human beings are not that enlightened. Hence, it is practically common sense that if one includes people of varied experiences in any group, there is likely to be more understanding and empathy regarding others.
While it is a great milestone to have a Latina nominated to the court, for me it is equally important that we also have the first openly and unabashedly empathetic nominee (note: the WSJ is now calling her the “empathy nominee“).
Photo: Sophia (Goddess of Wisdom) from the Ephesus Library: http://www.livius.org
Cockroach People 