Is Sonia Sotomayor a racist?
If you’re using leftist logic from only a few months ago, that seems to be the case.
In the past, conservatives who mistakenly pronounced Harris’ first name as something other than “Comma-la” were said to be engaging in “racist” behavior, according to numerous leftist outlets.
That argument will likely be soon forgotten as of Wednesday, given the fact that Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor made that error during the Biden-Harris inauguration ceremony, mistakenly emphasizing the second syllable in the vice president’s first name.
BREAKING: Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor: “I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” https://t.co/244o2BkvCm #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/lYsKLLF7dr
— ABC News (@ABC) January 20, 2021
Given that “Kamala” is not a commonly used name in America, this mistake on the part of Sotomayor and others should be seen as understandable.
As of a few months ago, however, the left didn’t seem to think that was the case.
An Aug. 21 article in The Associated Press, titled “Democrats see racism in GOP mispronunciations of ‘Kamala,’” suggested mispronunciations were deliberately targeted at marginalizing Harris.
“Harris’ supporters say the pattern amounts to a deliberate effort by Trump and his allies to portray Harris — the daughter of immigrants — as someone who does not belong at the top ranks of politics,” the article said.
“The mispronunciations follow a string of attacks that include racist and sexist memes and questioning whether Harris, who was born in California, is eligible to serve as vice president because her mother was Indian and her father Jamaican.”
An Oct. 18 Op-Ed published by CNN was titled “Let’s not pretend David Perdue wasn’t being racist about Kamala Harris” in reference to former Sen. David Perdue’s mispronunciation of Harris’ name at a campaign event.
The DePaulia of DePaul University similarly published an opinion piece on Nov. 1 titled, “OPINION: Purposefully mispronouncing Kamala Harris’ name is racist, plain and simple.”
When Tucker Carlson mispronounced Harris’ name during an August debate with Richard Goodstein, a Democratic adviser, Goodstein was quick to reprimand the Fox host for his apparent disparagement.
“Her name is pronounced ‘comma’ — like the punctuation mark — ‘la.’ Seriously, I’ve heard every sort of bastardization of that. That’s how it is. ‘Comma-la,’” Goodstein said.
“I unintentionally mispronounced her name. … So what?” Carlson said.
“Out of respect for somebody who’s going to be on the national ticket, pronouncing her name right is actually kind of a bare minimum,” Goodstein said, visibly agitated.
The level of outrage over mispronouncing Harris’ name has known no bounds, although whenever a left-wing figure makes a similar mistake, liberals seem to be quicker to forgive.
For example, long before Sotomayor’s mispronunciation, Harris’ very own running mate, President Joe Biden, made a similar error.
Tucker mispronounces Kamala’s name & leftists freak out & accuse him of being racist.
Aaaand then Joe Biden mispronounces Kamala’s name the very next day.
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) August 13, 2020
It’s unlikely leftists will now denounce Justice Sotomayor as a vehement racist, proving once again who the modern-day American left really is — a collection of hypocritical race-baiters.