by: Sallie J. Thomas
March 23, 2022
“I never dreamed that, in my lifetime, I would see a Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court”
Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL)
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made history on February 25, 2022, when she became the first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States. It took a lot of dreaming for Black women to see themselves where white men in America have always been. It took even more dreaming to envision Black women in the halls of power that white men have always occupied in this country. With steadfast commitment, determination, fierce resistance, strong advocacy and resilience beyond measure, we are here. Judge Jackson stands on the backs of her elders and ancestors like Judge Amalya Lyle Kearse, the first Black woman judge on an appellate court, and Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to be appointed as a federal judge. In the words of the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, her nomination signals that although Black women have not been given a seat at the table, we sure come equipped with our folding chairs. Never backing down from opposition will continue to bring Black women to the positions in society where we have long deserved to be.
“And during this process I looked for … someone with the wisdom to appreciate that the Constitution protects certain inalienable rights. Rights that fall within the most fundamental personal freedoms that our society recognizes.”
President Joe Biden
The United States Constitution. A document signed in 1787 which codified and protected the transatlantic slave trade. Under which being Black in America four hundred years ago meant being bought and sold at auction to the highest bidder. It meant being forced to endure the abhorrent conditions of slavery brought on by merciless white slave owners, especially in the U.S. South. It meant being considered three-fifths of a person. Two hundred years ago, abolition — the triumphant movement spearheaded by resilient Black enslaved folks and some anti-slavery allies—became a force in America. But the U.S. Supreme Court continued to push back against abolition in a reactionary, oppressive nature from the inception of that movement. In the way of orthodox American white supremacy, it is blatant that Black folks must suffer harm for the white man to prevail.
In 1856, the U.S. Supreme Court found in Dred Scott v. Sandford that an enslaved person who moves to a state where slavery is forbidden is still a slave. In other words, the Court upheld that no negro and no descendent of slaves can be a U.S. citizen; that enslaved people were property; and, that any law depriving a slave owner of their property was therefore unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court was not set up to bring justice for Black people; Black people could not even bring cases before the Court because they were not considered “people” but “property.” The Court was serving as a pillar of white nationalism in its promotion of racism, anti-Blackness and Black inferiority. The judicial system solely existed as a place of penalty for Black folks: an epithet that continues to linger in the modern-age judicial system and its inequitable treatment of Black people. The U.S. Constitution is not yet inclusive of all of those “fundamental freedoms” not yet even recognizing all of the “fundamental freedoms” that have yet to be afforded to us. Hence, the long-awaited and overdue need for more Black Justices – especially Black women – on the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Abraham Lincoln declared that all enslaved people “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free” in the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. But “freedom” was not and is not truly free. Shortly after Black people were “free,” the Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 stating that it was unconstitutional to prohibit discrimination against Black people from individuals. In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court continued to uphold Black oppression in Plessy v. Ferguson, holding that segregation was not a violation of the Constitution. “Separate but equal” was the law until 1954 when Thurgood Marshall argued Brown v. Board of Education, a momentous case which established that school segregation is unconstitutional, before the U.S. Supreme Court. This case acted as an indomitable catalyst for ending segregation across the nation. Following this landmark case came a historic revolt in the form of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. A movement held together by Black women.There is an apparent pattern in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court: Black people have to fight for, and are often denied, things that white men have always had—first our freedom, then our equality. In her autobiography Assata Shakur wrote, “I’m not quite sure what freedom is, but I know damn well what it ain’t.” And I know, even now, we still aren’t free.
“Diversity on our nation’s highest court sends a powerful message to the country that our justice system is informed by a variety of backgrounds and perspectives, which is critical to ensuring the legitimacy of the Court in a multicultural nation.”
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Justice Thurgood Marshall was the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice in this country. Toward the end of the civil rights movement in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated the thoroughly accomplished Thurgood Marshall stating that it was “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” A female Justice was not nominated for the bench until 192 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s inception with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981. Thanks to her prowess and feminist presence on the bench, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – the second female Justice – demonstrated the importance of diversity and representation on the nation’s highest Court. Quite similarly, no other U.S. Supreme Court Justice has been a Black woman or a Black girl. It is more important now than ever that the highest Court in this country gives each citizen a chance to be taken seriously, advocated for, and given a true chance at justice.
Malcolm X proclaimed in 1962 that “the most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” Six decades later, his words still ring true. The women who fought tooth and nail for abolition throughout the 1800s deserved to be seen, heard, and respected. The Black women who fought for women’s suffrage alongside pompous white feminists during the first wave of feminism at the Seneca Falls Convention deserved to be seen, heard, and respected. The Black women who put themselves in harm’s way during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Black abolitionist women who rose up screaming “Say Her Name” in the summer of 2020, and the Black women who have been continually fighting for reproductive rights all deserve to be seen, heard, and respected. Judge Jackson deserves it all, too.
Judge Jackson has been met with reluctance and disrespect both during her previous vetting processes for judgeship and now. Her opposers are armed with the cowardly weapons of misogynoir and microaggressions — anything to question a Black woman’s intelligence and preparedness to fill a white man’s seat. Senator Ted Cruz (TX) felt that Biden’s commitment to nominating a Black woman was an insult. Senator Roger Wicker (MS) said he views Judge Jackson’s nomination as “affirmative action” for the Court. Similar to President Barack Obama’s experience before the audience of racist white America, Judge Jackson’s African name, Ketanji Onyika – meaning “Lovely One,” has been the object of ridicule. Her qualifications have been boiled down to a demand to see her LSAT scores — something not asked of any of the Trump-appointed white Justices. These statements and the ideals behind them display the same white supremacy and anti-Blackness ingrained in the history of America and of the U.S. Supreme Court. No holds barred in their goal to gatekeep power and prevent Black women from claiming their rightful place.
As a double Harvard graduate (with honors) and editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, there isn’t much to contest about Judge Jackson’s educational background. The ideal nominee, she began her legal career clerking for three judges, including Justice Stephen Breyer, whose seat on the U.S. Supreme Court she is set to fill. She has experience in private legal practice and federal public defense, served as the vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2014, and served as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which is second only to the Supreme Court in terms of prominence and prestige. She has awarded herself the reputation of being a thorough and evenhanded jurist and given her stellar accomplishments throughout her education and career, there should be no doubt that Judge Jackson is “it.” She is poised to contribute to American jurisprudence with a brand new lens of legal diversity, Blackness, and womanness personified.
On January 26, 2022, Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court announced his intention to retire from the court by the end of the 2021-2022 term. Judge Jackson has met with Senators, including Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) and Mitch McConnell (KY) for private conversations. The public confirmation hearing process began this Monday and continues today. Judge Jackson endured two days of questioning and one day of witness testimony and she can be expected to be confirmed by early April. By next month, there will be a Black woman Supreme Court Justice. A Justice with sun-soaked skin and bold, beautiful features like mine. A Justice with a natural loc’d crown like mine. A justice who had to work twice as hard to get half as far, just like me. A Justice just like all of the Black women on their paths and all the Black women who are still dreaming. A Justice who shows us we are capable and deserving of it all. Though it’s widely past due time for representation of Black women on the U.S. Supreme Court, it doesn’t come without contention. But Black women know that everything we do will be scrutinized – but no matter how hard they try to gatekeep, we must continue to break those gates down.
“Judge Jackson has already inspired young Black women like my daughters to set their sights higher, and her confirmation will help them believe they can be anything they want to be.”
Former President Barack Obama
In a country where Black people have been oppressed by law and by society, and Black women even more so, Judge Jackson’s nomination feels like a taste of that freedom promised in 1863, and that constitutional equality promised in 1954. Black women have long proven their resiliency and will continue to pave the way for even more brilliant Black women behind them. So what may seem like a miracle to some, is the result of the arguably unspoken movement happening right under our noses. A movement involving Black women taking and dominating in the positions of power they deserve to hold. This certainly serves as a joyous and momentous victory for America, for Black people, for Black women, and for Black girls and their futures. Destined Justice Jackson, you set a milestone for this unspoken movement and you are our ancestors’ wildest dreams. And to every little Black girl who dares to be brave, look at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and know that you can be anything! It all started with a dream and it has come this far by faith
“My life has been blessed beyond measure and I do know that one can only come this far by faith.”
– Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, our first Black woman Supreme Court Justice