Sonia Sotomayor Quotes

The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.

Race wasn't an issue. My family was French, but Yorkville was a melting pot of races and cultures.

I hear that melting-pot stuff a lot, and all I can say is that we haven't melted.

More often than not, we think of ourselves as black, white, Asian, or Hispanic pretty much in this country, but the real America is much more than that.

The richness of America is that we are diverse. We're not Sweden. We're not Norway. We are a great American experiment. And as soon as we start trying to forget race or turn our back on race, number one, we don't confront the real racial realities that still persist.

In America, you're just an American. You're accepted. It doesn't matter that you're of whatever race. If anything, I'm British, and that's it. So let's just get on with it, really.

Those who stay in America should be open to society without melting.

Assimilation was never the goal of the diverse ethnic groups in America. Inclusion without discomfort is now, and ever will be, the goal.

It's hard as a young person of a different ethnicity or background to look at the TV and not see anyone who looks like you. Representation is very important.

I really love Japan, and I liked living there very much, and there are so many terrific things about Japan. However, I do think what's amazing is that Japan really prides itself on being monoracial. It doesn't have the same kind of idea as in the U.K. or Canada or the United States, in which the idea of diversity is a strength.

American Jews are no longer a homogenous minority; we come in all colors and from all corners of the world.

When I started in government, I said that children who come here should take German classes before they start regular classes so they can follow what the teachers say. I said it should be possible to be a believing Muslim and a proud Austrian at the same time.

The question of identity has separated from the issue of 'assimilation', having lost much of its drama and become, so to speak, a secular problem.

My parents sent me to a school across town, an integrated school, where I had the chance to meet and grow up with people who were from other parts of the world. ... I remember feeling that I would never have anything to contribute on St. Patrick's Day. I couldn't tell the stories that they might have been telling about their forebears and I felt left out.

I think that in L.A., one thing that nobody will ever talk about is, for instance, how just one in five kids in L.A. County is white, so when you're looking out there, it's a very brown city.

America is not a melting pot. It is a sizzling cauldron.

Ethnic diversity adds richness to a society.

When I was growing up, Forest Park was full of integrated families. It was amazing. One my best friends was Vietnamese. Another one was half-Mexican, half-black. Another one was from Colombia. Another one was born in the U.S., but his mom was from Germany and spoke with a German accent. So we all had multiple identities.

The Indo-Canadian community has been a microcosm of the people of Indian origin living abroad besides reflecting India's diversity.

I don't judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they're a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person.

A lot of people don't know this, but Toronto is probably the most multicultural city in North America.

We can make the United States a 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity.

I am definitely a person of color.

The historical problem of the United States is to admit that it is a multiracial and multi-ethnic nation.

We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community - and this nation.