Maria Hinojosa
Special to CNN
It's a question I never thought I would ask my daughter. But I loved being able to ask it.
"Yurema?"
"Yes, Mom," my 11-year-old daughter said.
"Tell me what T-shirt you would most like to wear: one that says 'I am a Wise Latina,' 'My Mother is a Wise Latina' or 'Sonia is a Wise Latina'?"
She cocked her head slightly and then quickly said, "I am a Wise Latina."
Eleven years old, and this is the vision she already has of herself. It's a pretty wonderful thing to watch that certain something blossom in a girl ... one of those often fleeting moments when a girl owns her own power.
For me, the decision to wear my own "Wise Latina" T-shirt raises all kinds of issues.
| Endo |
August 6th, 2009 6:45 pm ET ...Yeah! Proud to be Latinos! |
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| robyn caffrey keyser west virgina 26726 |
August 6th, 2009 6:47 pm ET ( congratulations ) |
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| Endo |
August 6th, 2009 7:01 pm ET Yeah!... Of course; proud to be Latinos! Despite this unbecoming heading title for this article, Us Latinos are here...; and moreover, we have been here for over 200 years before the 'wise anglos'! |
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| GF, Los Angeles |
August 6th, 2009 7:56 pm ET This is why racism will always exist. If people continue to segregate themselves by saying I'm proud to be a wise Latina instead of just I'm proud to be a wise person, then we'll always have race issues. Why must other races blame the "white man" for keeping them down? The opportunities to succeed are there but many of us are too lazy to take it no matter what color we are. I wonder how others would feel to see someone wearing a "I'm a wise Arayan". BTW I'm not white. |
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| BTW |
August 6th, 2009 9:20 pm ET Be real, "Latino" isn't a race: their ancestors are Indigenous, White and/or Black! It's an identity grounded in an affinity for a colonial language language other than English - coupled with an historic regional affilation (Dominican, Mexican, etc.). Anyway, she's the most ethnically diverse appointee to the court yet and let's hope the trend continues on the Court! |
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| Mike in NYC |
August 6th, 2009 11:02 pm ET That's "Aryan," GF. And it's a good thing to be. |
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| Victoria Mathis |
August 7th, 2009 2:38 am ET Sotomyer maybe wise to 16% pf the country... But she insults the majority of the rest of our proud people of all other races. I dispise what she has said about white men. I also know she srewed up her personal feelings with the case of the deserving firemen who where passed over for promotion when they were the ones who studied so very hard for the promotion tests. She isn't worthy of being a judge. |
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| Joshua Solomon |
August 7th, 2009 4:28 am ET Am so api 4 Mrs. sotomiya. She wil make a gud gudge with a different. Wht she also need at dis tym is 4 her not 2 b carry away with her emotion. |
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| lampe |
August 7th, 2009 10:18 am ET Whatever happened toI'm Proud To Be A Wise American? |
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