"Until the color of a man's skin is of no more importance than the color of his eyes there will be war." so said Haile Selossie, Emperor of Ethiopia, to the League of Nations in the 1930's and subsequently quoted by Bob Marley in the song 'War'.
Sadly, the color of the skin is still of importance to the world today and for many it will continue to be. The Human Race has had its share of battered history and brutal holocaust. That is not the argument. The question today is why are we still locked in this quagmire and when, if ever, will we emerge?
There's a big change occurring in Washington DC at this moment. A decision has been made that often helps to define a presidency and outline a new future for the American Nation. That is the nomination and confirmation of a new United States Supreme Court Justice. It's a big deal. The Supreme Court is comprised of nine justices who truly hold the most powerful positions in government as they are the only positions that come with a life term. The Supreme Court has the power to take your guns, restrict your speech and govern your body. It is in our best interest to know who they are and for what they stand. Today, President Obama will have his first nominee enter the process of confirmation to become the new justice, replacing Justice David Souter.
The choice is named Sonia Sotomayor and it is difficult to find her judicial views in the broad headlines of the mass media. It is apparent that she is indeed female and in a political coup it is also revealed that she is Hispanic. These facts make her qualified in the America of today. A land of quota over qualification.
I do not argue the facts of our racial past. It's an ugly truth and one which we must accept and study. But the truth in America today is that race is no longer an issue. It is over. We are no longer held back by the color of our skin, the gender of our sex or our physical limitations. The Race War is finished and peace has been declared. We won. The proof is on the presidential seal. Barak Hussein Obama is the President of The United States of America and in case you missed the news flash, he's black!
The point of this is we can no longer use the crutch of race to prevent us from achieving our goals. If a black man can be elected President of the United States then anybody can do anything in this country. Surely there are, and always will be, those who cannot get past the color of the skin and there will always be those who cannot refrain from a slur or derogatory comment. Welcome to life in the real world. But we've reached an era where race has played itself out and in truth, no longer matters. I can agree that there is still a very real economic discrimination in America today which holds down a populace and prevents many from competing on an equal surface but I don't accept that people are locked out of the American Dream by race alone.
But race still matters. Matters more now than it did in 1860. It matters now because despite all the battles fought and won there are those who will not allow the flag of peace to fly. And these are the ones among us who are the most vocal about ensuring our racial equality. The ones who rally and chant for racial equality are the very ones who prevent it from happening. Because every time a person's race, gender, sexual orientation or creed is brought to the argument that person is rendered inconsequential. It's sad that the greatest accomplishments of this Supreme Court nominee occurred at the moment of her birth and that she had absolutely nothing to do with them. By celebrating Sotmayor's Hispanic identity we have eliminated her identity. She will get confirmed and she will be seated on the court for its next session but we'll know less about her views than we will about her youth in a Bronx housing project because the guilt of our past keeps us mired there and prevents us from exploring our future.
It would do our country and our culture justice to examine who Sonia Sotomayor really is and what she really thinks but her race and gender won't allow for that to occur. The Supreme Court is a powerful place and this is a very important appointment, as are all Supreme Court appointments.
It would serve us better to focus our attentions on what makes the person who they are and not so much on what they are.
