Being Brown

Being Brown: Sonia Sotomayor and the Latino Question tells the story of the countrys first Latina Supreme Court Associate Justices rise to the pinnacle of American public life at a moment of profound demographic and political transformation. While Sotomayors confirmation appeared to signal the greater acceptance and inclusion of Latinosthe nations largest minority majoritythe uncritical embrace of her status as a possibility model and icon paradoxically erased the fact that her success was due to civil rights policies and safeguards that no longer existed. Being Brown analyzes Sotomayors story of success and accomplishment, despite seemingly insurmountable odds, in order to ask: What do we lose in democratic practice when we allow symbolic inclusion to supplant the work of meaningful political enfranchisement? In a historical moment of resurgent racism, unrelenting Latino bashing, and previously unimaginable blood and soil Nazism, Being Brown explains what we stand to lose when we allow democratic values to be trampled for the sake of political expediency, and demonstrates how understanding the Latino question can fortify democratic practice. Being Brown provides the historical vocabulary for understanding why the Latino body politic is central to the countrys future and why Sonia Sotomayors biography provides an important window into understanding America, and the countrys largest minority majority, at this historical juncture. In the process, Being Brown counters alternative facts with historical precision and ethical clarity to invigorate the best of democratic practice at a historical moment when we need it most.