Read the excerpt from "A Latina Judge's Voice" by Hon. Sonia Sotomayor.

Question

Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues, including Brown.

However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Others simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.

Which statement from the passage best summarizes the central idea in this excerpt?

“We should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group.”
“Wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination.”
“Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case.”
“Others simply do not care.”

Answer 1

The statement that best summarizes the central idea in the excerpt is:

“We should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group.”

This statement encapsulates the main theme of the excerpt, which discusses the importance of understanding diverse perspectives and the impact of personal experience on judgment, while acknowledging that some may have the capacity to understand others' experiences.