When I see Judge Sotomayor I see my neighbors, my professors and mentors , my elders and all my heroes. She is among those who have fought for access on behalf of the poor, and I’m proud of her nomination to the Supreme court. As a NYC native and currently a Bronx resident, she inspires me because she represents my values and my community.

Nonetheless Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist has attempted to cast a shadow of suspicion over Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court by raising a specter of doubt as to whether or not she ‘empathizes with Hispanic Values’. In fact, Ms. Sanchez stated the following in her recent column on CNN.com:

“As impressive as Sotomayor’s life story is, it remains to be seen whether she truly has the much-talked-about “empathy” for Hispanic values and dreams…Obama’s nomination of the first Latina to the Supreme Court is a historic moment that has moved each of us, but our pride will be fleeting if she doesn’t really share Hispanic values.”

Given the fact that 67% of “Hispanics” disagreed with Ms. Sanchez’s choice for President, my gut reaction after reading this was “Who da f%#k are you?”. The fact is, unlike Clarence Tom-Ass who was and is unqualified to sit on the Supreme Court, nobody is arguing that she’s unfit. By default we know she’s a proponent of hard work, dedication and perseverance – what more do you want? Like every other nominee for the court she reflects the political views of the sitting President – so what’s the big deal?

Moreover, why throw out a term like “Hispanic Values” to try and unilaterally define what a true Hispanic is? Is there something deeper going on here? Would Ms. Sanchez have raised such a question against a nominee who wasn’t a self-proclaimed Nuyorican?

Ms. Sanchez also writes: “If she understands the hopes and aspirations of the Hispanic community, she should have a record of interpreting the Commerce Clause of the Constitution in ways that encourage individual risk-taking, free enterprise and job creation, not in ways that discourage it”. This sounds like Ms. Sanchez asserts that anything that will protect workers’ rights and minimum wages is both anti-prosperity and in the most twisted sense anti-Hispanic.

Of course we know that Hispanics want to prosper like anyone else – that’s a no-brainer. However, what Ms. Sanchez is insinuating is that what Hispanics need and want most is a pro-corporate Federal government. The subtle suggestion is that our Bronx-born self-proclaimed Nuyorican Latina may not be the right kind of Hispanic for her tastes – and by extension the entire “Hispanic” community.

In other words, a race-conscious, social justice advocating Latina who might be more inclined to protect public universities and schools, reform the prison industrial complex, support Affirmative Action or see free health care as a right and not a privilege is not Hispanic enough. According to Ms. Sanchez, Hispanics are primarily concerned with keeping their heads down, nose to the grind and assimilating like every other immigrant group. In fact she further writes: “Like all other immigrants, Hispanics came here with the hope of acquiring property for themselves and their children…” without noting that most Latinos, by definition, have the blood of the very people in their veins from whom the land was taken from in the first place! That distinction alone makes the sojourn of Latinos in America different from all other immigrant groups, European or otherwise.

Ms. Sanchez, is trying to marginalize Judge Sotomayor by asserting the primacy of Hispanic values over a dominant Latino reality. She knows that the urban experience of most Puerto Ricans, and in particular this Nuyorican Latina, is more akin to the urban Black experience than her sanitized Hispanic aspirations. The thought of having the most powerful Latino voice in America, at least within the near future, that reflects the struggles of the poor only undermines Ms. Sanchez’s bourgeois view of what the US Hispanic community should be.

In my lifetime, I have never looked forward to anyone being confirmed to the Supreme Court more than Judge Sotomayor. Her nomination and hopefully where confirmation gives me a sense of pride, joy and even safety.

It sounds like Ms.Sanchez would prefer another right-wing Republican attack dog like herself, or maybe just another middle-class flunky with a brown face in a high place with no conviction to sit on the Supreme Court – well too bad! This just sounds like the GOP found a convenient personality to run point on a forthcoming assault…stay tuned.