Community- Global awareness: Sonia Sotomayor Lecture (9/22/09, 12:45-2:00 pm)

I attended a community global awareness workshop about Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor was the first Latina to ever be a judge on the Supreme Court. However, it was not easy for her to get that position due to her race. While attending Princeton and Yal for law, women were being watched. Since women of those times did not go into these fields of work they were being watched to see if they still dressed and acted feminine. Her success was a major turning point for women who wanted to achieve what Sotomayor had. In the mid 1960’s a program called SEEK emerged, this program helped look for the Sotomayors of the world. When a study was made about employment it seemed that a white person looking to hire chose to hire white sounding names as opposed to black sounding names, despite the education of each. White people sounding names are fifty percent more likely to get a call back. African Americans are not the only ones who are still facing racism. Mexicans have actually replaced the way African Americans are seen, being seen as “the help” rather than people working for a living. I am very grateful that I attended this workshop because it has defiantly opened my eyes to see how racism unfortunately still occurs today. I selected this workshop because I wanted to attend a workshop that would not only take me out of my comfort zone but one that would interest me. This workshop met all of my expectations because the guest speakers each gave lectures that kept the audience interested and well informed about this important issue. After attending this workshop and listening to each speaker I have not only learned more about Sonia Sotomayor but I have also become more aware of how racism is still taking place today. Listening to these lectures was a good experience and I would recommend it to all students.