Newt Gingrich: Sotomayor Not A Racist, But A Racialist

Newt Gingrich has decided to rephrase the rhetoric he used in Tweeting about Sonia Sotomayor’s comments on how her ethnicity would factor into her decision-making. Her words may have been racist, he now says, but she herself would probably be better described as a “racialist,” given he doesn’t know her personally and thus cannot know if she herself is racist.

Clarified Newt (does that not sounds like a particularly gruesome “Nom Nom?”):

The word ‘racist’ should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable.

At a certain point though, does not racist rhetoric a racist make? At any rate, here’s Newt’s retraction:

We’ve yet to ask you all what you made of Sonia’s original comment, the one that some in the GOP latched onto as evidence that she is racist racialist. Here’s a refresher:

I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life. Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.

Personally, we think the statement is bullshit, because a “rich” experience does not, ultimately, lead to better decision-making. Empathy does not lead to justice. Do we think the statement is racist? Her decision to mention “inherent physiological differences” does give us pause, as this has often been used as an argument to bolster misogyny and xenophobia against women and, yup, Latinos. Had the stuck to mentioning outside influences without going into inherent differences, we might feel differently about her statement.

So what do you think? Was the statement itself racist? Was it racialist? Or was it, perhaps, racialtastic?