Let me begin by saying that I am a middle-aged white male who grew up during the Civil Rights Era of the 1960's and in the Deep South at that.

Fortunately, I had good parents who looked at the world through color blinded eyes and taught all five of us kids the value of a person as a human being, not as one particular race, religion, creed, or color.

Sonia Sotomayor, regardless of her ethnic background, is a good choice as the next Supreme Court Justice.  I firmly believe that as a nation we should strive to be as inclusive as possible, without being overly ridiculous in doing so.  I believe that everyone should have a voice in the governance of this nation, within all three branches.  This is not to say that a representative should vote solely on the basis of his or her ethnicity or a Justice should rule based on the same; but that having diversity strengthens us as a nation, not weakens us as some would have us believe.

This is a nation of people more diverse than any other nation in the history of the world.  We are made up of a vast array of opinions and views, of religions and life experiences.  We pride ourselves in saying that our ethnic background is one or the other, but in the end, for the majority of us here in this country, we are citizens of The United States of America.  No matter what our ethnic background is, and no matter how proud we are of that history, we should be first and foremost loyal to our country and to our fellow Americans.

Sonia Sotomayor will serve no better or worse than any other Supreme Court Justice, she is luckily only one voice, one vote, among the nine.  She will not make rullings alone nor make decisions in a vacuum, she is an American, and her voice and her vote should be and will be that of an American.