Comments on: Was Cardoza The ‘First Hispanic’ Justice? Maybe not…

By: Joseph Zernik

Joseph Zernik — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:25:28 +0000

The statements above are somewhat, marginally offensive to one who is partly Sephardic, mostly because they appear to reflect some admixture of ignorance and ethnic pigeonholing.

First - it is kindly requested that you correct the typo in the title, to give his name correctly - CARDOZO

Second - please add at least a word or two about what he accomplished, what he contributed to American life in the U.S., beyond his ethnicity and sound of his last name. He is credited with principled constitutional thinking in support of individual rights, and he had a central role in bringing the Robber Barons Era to an end… These are important lessons, since we live in what may come to be known as the Revival Robber Baron Era.

Third - the question you pose - whether Cardozo considered himself Hispanic is erring in anachronism… I doubt that the construct of “Hispanic” as an ethnicity in the sense that it is used today existed during his time.

Finally - I do not know enough about his upbringing, but it is very likely that he had a good sense of Ladino identity, Jewish identity, and American identity. Ladino was spoken in Sephardic homes into the early 20th century, and the rich cultural tradition tied them very tightly to their origins in Spain and Portugal.

Their pronunciation of Hebrew was entirely different than that of the Eastern European Jews to the point that it was difficult to understand each other. The Sephardic Jews were proud of their Hebrew, and considered the European pronunciation as corruption. Modern Hebrew indeed eventually adopted the Sephardic pronunciation of Hebrew as the standard pronunciation, as recognition of its likelihood of being closer to the original sound of the language.

In the early 20th century, and even more so in the 19th century there was a strong rift between the Sephardic community in NYC and other, newer immigrants, since the Sephardic community was the oldest to be established in the city.

By: J. Rolando Flores

J. Rolando Flores — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:44:40 +0000

Regarding Mr. Dick Rich’s comments to the posted article:

Nowehere is there any remarks in which accusations of “anti=Hispanic attacks” are made. Let’s get it right!

Thank you for the opportunity

By: Alfonso DuLuc

Alfonso DuLuc — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:35:58 +0000

First of all, I am so very impressed by the show, all of NPR as a matter of fact. Its broad scope and well founded information is great to the ears who listen to it. Nevertheless, I do not understand why the term LATINO is being used to name the people whose background is, mainly,from the Spanish-speaking countries of America and Europe, sometimes the Brazilians. Well informed people know and maintain that LATINO refers to all the people whose cultures are based mainly on the European people who became Latin by the Roman Empire(don’t forget the Haitians, Quebequois, Italians, Ecautoguineans,etc.) The Inca, Maya and other Precolumbian peoples are not Latin and still have their own wonderful cultures which are not Latin. Why then misuse a term? To me, it keeps a lot of people in ignorance.

By: David Vartanoff

David Vartanoff — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:28:56 +0000

As an Armenian American on my father’s side (Irish/German American mother) Mark Krikorian embarrasses and enrages me. He seems to think he is part of the ruling class and can act
to suppress the newer immigrants. The story in my family is that when my parents were buying the house I grew up in they were able to finesse our heritage because our surname had a Russian ending. The house in Bethesda MD was covenanted against purchase by “Negroes”, Jews, Armenians, various Asians. When I was in JR High School (at the very school Presidente Bachelet would attend a couple years later) I discovered that houses in another neighborhood closer to DC were also covenanted against Armenians et al. I had BTW meant to write after last week’s commentary but it slipped off the list. I should add that while I am not fluent in Spanish, I can explain construction details on the
job site, and communicate w/ the personnel in the Taco trucks here in the Bay Area. I did manage to tutor a neighborhood kid successfully getting him to pass Spanish in middle
school. . OTOH my French is much better and my Latin rusty but possible.

Final thought on language. Thirty years back the French were freaking out over franglish like le weekend, and le drugsale. Peter Kalischer filmed his CBS report at night w/ the Arc de Triomphe in the backgound suggesting that the US retaliate by dropping detente from usage. Enjoy your work (I go back to infoque).

By: Dick Rich

Dick Rich — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:25:40 +0000

… First they went after Judge Robert Bork
and you said nothing

… Then they went after Judge Clarence Thomas
and you said nothing

… Now they are going after Judge Sonia Sotomayor
and you are making this an anti-Hispanic attack?