Sonia Sotomayor should make us all proud

On Saturday, August 8, 2009 Chief Justice Roberts swore in Sonia Sotomayor as the newest associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Her elevation makes her the first Hispanic to serve on the high court. During the confirmation hearings she conducted herself with grace, dignity and with an extraordinary knowledge of her place in history and on the court.

I hope we all pause to recognize this moment in history. People of color and all persons of goodwill should understand that when barriers are broken down, we are made better as a people. All humanity is elevated when strides are made by a member of a disadvantaged group of our society.

Few can argue that persons of Hispanic heritage are not the target of much of our hatred, bigotry and distrust. My mother, a black woman who has worked all her life to ensure I had opportunities afforded to me regardless of my skin color, recently mentioned how many "Mexicans" have move to her small town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Although her statement may be true, it was the disdain she had in her voice and expression on her face that troubled me most. As I probed her statement she fell back to the old default position of "taking jobs meant for Americans" and questioned their immigration status. I used it as a teaching moment to discuss how we're all part of this great march toward an equal, just and humane America and not that long ago, her status as a full citizen was not only in question but written into our laws defining her as only partially a citizen with rights.

How soon we forget.