The critique of her seeming preoccupation with her heritage nonetheless seems valid to me...
You see a Hispanic female who speaks out proudly of her heritage is "preoccupied" with her background and is open to criticism. However if you're a British Tory who blogs for The Atlantic you're apparently allowed to reflect upon that heritage and life experience whenever you see fit.
Atrios this morning lays out the double-standard at work here nicely,
What's so absurd about how this conversation is unfolding is that our white males on the teevee have never had any problem with the identity politics that they associate with American Whiteness - the identity politics of white ethnics - but get freaked when a member of a non-approved (nonwhite) group achieves some prominence. None of these guys have any problems with an Irish-American touting his Irish tribal identity or an Italian-American doing the same, but the slightest suggestion of that coming from anyone nonwhite makes them discover a new concern for racism.
It's not that Sully is a bigot or Chris Matthews or Pat Buchanan (well ok, maybe Patty-Patty Buke Buke is a bigot) but that they are completely oblivious to the absurd double-standard they are employing. Chris Matthews can't go 2 days without flogging his Irish-Catholic upbringing but heaven forbid a minority discuss their heritage. There's nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage and your life experiences, I certainly am proud to say I'm Irish-Catholic. The issue is when you lack the awareness to realize that other ethnic groups are just as proud of their heritage as you are and that they have every right to draw upon that heritage as any Italian, Irish or German descendant has.
When any of these guys get up in arms about the St. Patrick's Day Parade let me know.
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