Essay on American Government and Politics Part 3
Needles is the first chapter of the book that gives insight into the early life of Sonia Sotomayor. The author describes her early life and her environment.
At home is the second chapter, where the author describes her home and her family members in details.
Abuelita is the third chapter, where the author describes her childhood and her friends and uncovers her reliance on her friends and importance of friendly relations for her.
Gilmar’s goodbyes is the fourth chapter that gives insight into interpersonal relations of the author with her friends and uncovers her background.
Trips to Puerto Rico is the fifth chapter, where the author continues to uncover her background and emphasizes her Hispanic origin. In this chapter, the author uncovers the brief history of her family and its strong links to Puerto Rico.
Papi’s death is the sixth chapter that reveals a tragic moment in the life of the child, the death of her father. However, Sonia is not really disappointed by this death because her father was alcoholic and died, when she was just nine.
El luto is the seventh chapter, where the author depicts her struggle with her first problems and recovery after the death of her father.
Celina’s story is the eighth chapter, where the author reveals the growing role of her grandmother, who became the main care giver for her.
Transformation is the ninth chapter, which conveys the profound change that occurred to the narrator and shows how a girl has started to change under the impact of hardships that occurred to her life.
Diabetes, Nancy Drew, Perry Mason is the tenth chapter revealing the main health issue that Sonia confronted at the early age. She was diagnosed with diabetes and had to learn how to live with a new health problem.
Middle school is the eleventh chapter, where the author describes her middle school experience and her success in the academic development. She describes her early interest to law that determined the choice of her future career.
Transition to CSHS, first job is the twelfth chapter that shows her early professional experience and her first job, which became a considerable contribution to her further professional development.
Quotes
“One thing has not changed: to doubt the worth of minority students’ achievement when they succeed is really only to present another face of the prejudice that would deny them a chance to even try. It is the same prejudice that insists all those destined for success must be cast from the same mold as those who have succeeded before them, a view that experience has already proven a fallacy.” (Sotomayor, 2014, 121)
This quote reveals the experience of the author as a minority student. At the same time, this quote may be viewed in the broader sense since the quote uncovers the minority-majority relationship. The author stands on the ground that the majority always underestimates the potential and achievement of representatives of minority groups. The relationship between the minority and majority is always very complicated , while the author develops the idea of the determinant role of prejudices and stereotypes which affect their relationship. According to the author, the impact of prejudices and stereotypes on the perception of the minority by the majority is overwhelming. Therefore, prejudices and stereotypes influence policies conducted by the policy makers, who represent the majority mainly. In such a situation, representatives of the minority need the adequate representation as well as they need to change the existing biases and stereotypes to prove that they are equal to representatives of the majority. In this regard, the education and professional development of Sotomayor have revealed how difficult it was for her to overcome prejudices and biases in relation of other people to her because of her Hispanic background.
“Quiet pragmatism, of course, lacks the romance of vocal militancy. But I felt myself more a mediator than a crusader. My strengths were reasoning, crafting compromises, finding the good and the good faith on both sides of an argument, and using that to build a bridge.” (Sotomayor, 2014, 154).
This quote reveals the pragmatism and flexibility of the narrator of the book. At the same time, this quote shows how important are pragmatism and diplomacy in politics and relations between people. The ability to negotiate, to compromise and to build a bridge is very important for the development of effective policies or international relations. In fact, this quote reveals the effective way to building bridges between the minority and majority as well as between different social groups. Negotiations, arguments, understanding of both sides are crucial for the development of effective relations and policies that can respect and match interests of all stakeholders. This model can be applied at the local, national or international level with equal success. The author refers to her personal experience in developing positive and successful relations with other people but this model is broader and may be applied to different fields.
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