The reason to oppose Bush's nomination of Pickering go beyond racism. He is a republiklan so of course he's racist!  

His ethics are extremely questionable, including his practice making attorneys that regularly appear before him draft letters of support for him, and then routing the recomendations supporting his candidacy for higher courts through his office, rather than having them go directly to the governing body.  Russ Feingold sums it up with: We should want judges who are beyond reproach, who know that ethical conduct is at the core of their responsibilities, because such conduct helps ensure that the public will respect their decisions. I believe that Judge Pickering's conduct fell far short in this instance.

He also has a bad habit of interjecting personal bias into his decisions, like when dealing with the issue of frivolous lawsuits filed by prisoners. Even where the law was been changed to address the issue he felt compelled to use threatening language which could very well  dissuade legitimate complaints from being raised. 

This past week, in response to Bush once again prancing out this same tired and damaged nominee, Senator Feingold responded:

Finally, the President should demonstrate his commitment to justice for all Americans by nominating judges to the federal bench whose records demonstrate that they will uphold our nation's civil rights laws and give fair and impartial treatment to all who come before them. The President's re-nomination this week of Charles Pickering Sr. to a position on the Fifth Circuit is a step backward. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I reviewed his record closely last year and came to the conclusion that Mr. Pickering would be unfit for a position on the Fifth Circuit. I am not convinced that he will give all who come before him a fair hearing, especially on racial justice matters.

Mr. President, soothing words or a change of leadership alone cannot heal the divisions that remain in our Nation. Congress and the Administration must take concrete steps to protect Americans' civil rights, not just give them lip service.

As Dr. King said, "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy."

http://feingold.senate.gov/index.html