My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor - 1415 Words

The American Dream has never been available to minority citizens as easily as it is to American-born citizens. Affirmative action was first implemented around the year 1972, however it was not widely accepted or practiced. During this time society was just getting used to including women in higher education institutions so the concept of including minorities in higher education was almost non-existent. My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor shows the challenges that a first generation, Puerto Rican, lower socioeconomic female had during this time. Through her autobiography she shows the struggles she faced throughout her life, focusing on her application to college, college experience and insight into her cultural background. My Beloved†¦show more content†¦The article put affirmative action students like Sonia down just because she isn’t white. â€Å"Disadvantaged students often had no idea that they stood a chance at a place like Princeton† (116). The article i s not a thorough examination of reality during this time because it only takes into consideration the factor of race instead of using an intersectional lens of class, race, gender and socioeconomic status. This created self-doubt and discouragement for minorities applying to the Ivy League schools. This illustration of white supremacy proves the undeniable contradiction between equal opportunity for all and the ever so prevalent ideology in US society of this time that minorities were inferior to their Caucasian equivalent. This part of Sonia’s autobiography implies that white people work harder and are more qualified than minorities and that Affirmative Action is allowing the minority students to take the place of the white students. This point was furthermore proved when The Daily Princetonian stated the ideology of the white male being superior and entitled to being accepted to the Ivy League universities before minorities. White supremacy creates an unresolved contradicti on and makes it harder to achieve equality for all. Sonia reveals the undeniable presence of White supremacyShow MoreRelatedThe Methods Of Oppression By Rita Hardiman2175 Words   |  9 Pagesidentify how injustice is exposed through the three levels of oppression at the individual, societal, and institutional stages. We can see a number of examples of these types of discrimination throughout Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir, My Beloved World. In this visceral recalling of her childhood, Sonia employs in a fervent, deliberate reminiscing of her life as the offspring of Puerto Rican parentages, her years as a student and a lawyer. She delivers an intuitive sensibility of what it was like to growRead MoreThe Importance Of Distributing Desert Based Aid At A Small Liberal Arts School1441 Words   |  6 Pagesvery different from those available to the middle class† (8). He exemplifies this statement with reference to his own experience, â€Å"I was raised in a middle-class famil y; neither of my parents were college graduates. My own children are being raised by parents with both more money and more education. Yet I do not see my children as having significantly better opportunities than I had at their age† (9). Therefore, although unequal opportunity prevents low income segments of the population from having