A Judge With A View

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In this op ed for "Truthdig" I analyze the culture wars that became visible during Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing despite our national post-racial and post-feminist ethos. I raise three issues that allowed Sotomayor’s standpoint both answers her critics and raises new questions: recognition, status, and communication. Ultimately, I argue that the hearings and votes have been anything but post- racial or post-feminist. Rather, they have been an exercise in reciprocal communication based on racial and gendered identification. We have watched how those with similar standpoints adopt similar communication styles and how those with differing standpoints adopt differing styles. And, perhaps more importantly, we have watched what happens when different standpoints and communication styles meet.

   
“A Judge With A View,” Truthdig (5 August 2009).
A Judge With a View



Cal State Fullerton's HCOM

Cal State Fullerton's HCOM Department is very proud of you.

http://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/inside/2009/marcia-dawkins-on-judges-...



very cool

Congratulations, Marcia! This is fantastic...

Christopher H. Smith
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
3502 Watt Way | Los Angeles, CA | 90089-0281



Congrats

Hi Marcia!

Congratulations on the publication! I'm so happy to see that things are going well on your end.

All is well in Shanghai. Thanks for sending this my way. It was a good read and reconfirms just how complacent conservatives can be about their blindness and plain ignorance of the (no duh constantly) changing world. Our biggest challenge is navigating through these waters without pulling our hairs out.

Updates to come once I return!

Rune Huang



Bravo Marcia!

What a wonderful op ed. I enjoyed it.

George Sanchez



Very thoughtful

Hi, Marcia –

I just returned from Portland and read your very thoughtful op ed piece!

I especially like your lens on Sotomayor’s “outsider-within” identity stance.

In such a short piece, you were able to frame the intricate relation among standpoint, identity, and distinctive voice in an illuminating & persuasive manner – great job!

I‘m so proud of your inspiring insights – hope you can work on a longer piece on the entire hearing process!!

Warm regards,
Stella Ting-Toomey



Awesome work.

My first thought was about how old white men have biased impressions from their experience, it's just that their experience is "the norm" so they don't think it is biased. I shared your piece on my Facebook page to get you some extra attention.
Amber Watts-Hall


Marcia, I read your piece

-you are an amazing writer (as we all know). Thanks for sending it my way. It's interesting how someone's diversity/life experiences are seen first as threatening instead of potentially being assets. And if anyone tries to tell you that there's no room for diversity amongst a panel of 9 judges just point them to the wild differences between the deciding opinion and the dissent, right? Anyway, keep up the great work!
Hope you're doing well,
-Marc Choueiti


Awesome piece!

Mind if I twitter the link? When are we gonna see you as a regular contributor on CNN?
Kutaro Fujita



Sotomayor

Marcia Wow! This is fantastic. You should be very proud. You know what, I will bet this is just the first statement of a newly minted public intellectual. Congrats. Great work.

Take care,
Teresa A. Nance, Ph.D
Assistant Vice President, Multicultural Affairs
Associate Professor, Communication Department
Villanova University