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Who Is Sotomayor's Identity?

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In her speech, Sonia Sotomayor emphasizes family values and highlights cultural differences to make her identity as a New York Puerto Rican unique. Sotomayor reflects on emotional childhood memories in her speech. She says “[her] soul was nourished when [she] visited and played at [her] grandmother's house with [her] cousins and extended family” (Lines 33-35). Sotomayor's ideas of Puerto Rican culture stem from her memories with family. Her family experiences shaped not only her identity, but also her perspective of her culture. Everything she identifies with as Puerto Rican culture is tied to her family and upbringing. The love she has for her family expands into her heritage as everyone she loves embodies what she thinks is Puerto Rican culture. She evokes an emotional …show more content…

For Sotomayor, she was not only taught her roots, but how to love her ethnic background. She says “I became a Latina by the way I love and live my life. My family showed me by their example how wonderful and vibrant life is and how wonderful and magical it is to have a Latina soul” (Lines 84-88). Her family teaching her how to love her ethnic background relates to what Sotomayor is doing in her speech. Sotomayor stressing family roots in her speech to her audience comes from her wanting to build a community similar to what her family has as she takes on leadership roles later on, like being the first Latina justice of the US Supreme Court. She wants to build a community that has love and compassion as the foundation, just like her family. These positive attributes all come from what she learned in

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