Descendants of African slaves endured voting restrictions and jury box discrimination in southern states until the late 20th century. Native Americans, Jews, women, and others faced different degrees of racism.
The CNMI has an international reputation for discrimination and nepotism uncharacteristic of our inhabitants. This pattern of nepotism and incompetence in governance was recently advanced by Congresswoman Greg Sablan’s assertion that the new federal judge should be based on race. This is a political vote garnering strategy that targets NMD voters. Some support a Filipino-American judge based on our population demographics, but no one should receive a race based appointment in America. The decent citizens of the commonwealth disserve an unbiased person of merit and integrity.
Kilili, the governor and I don’t have the legal acumen to select a federal judge, and the people here disserve the most qualified candidate regardless of race, color, creed, religion, and gender. We must promote the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as a land of justice and the rule of law.
RON HODGES
Puerto Rico, Saipan
