Should the Supreme Court Rule on What to Call Justice Sotomayor?
The Supreme Court began its term yesterday. The ascension of Sonia Sotomayor to the court provoked hand-wringing about whether she is the court’s first Hispanic and whether she should be referred to as Hispanic, Latina, Puerto Rican or something else. Benjamin Cardozo, a justice of the early 20th century, had Portuguese ancestors, causing some to contend he was Hispanic, since Portugal sits in what ancient Rome called Hispania. But Portugal is not Spanish-speaking, and at any rate, Cardozo always simply called himself an American. Beyond that, the Census Bureau and others have been disputing for decades just what “Hispanic” means, since the only universally agreed definition is, “A person born in Spain.” Some Mexicans and Central Americans object to being called Hispanic, because Spain was the colonial oppressor of Mexico and Central America. Numerous commentators call Sotomayor “Latin-American,” but she was born in New York City, to parents who were U.S. citizens, and has spent her en
