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We are winning on equity.
Today, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has made history as the first Black woman to be confirmed as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. As she takes this momentous step in advancing representation in our federal system — as so many other Black women and women of color in leadership across our federal government have — she has pulled our nation, albeit begrudgingly, one step closer to realizing the potential we hold to become a flourishing, multiracial democracy. This is a critical milestone in our pursuit of equity.
Judge Brown Jackson confirmed her own fitness to serve on the highest court in our nation long before she stepped foot in any Congressional hearing. As Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas School of Law observed
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, “Ketanji Brown Jackson brings more experience as a judge than four of the current justices did combined at the time they joined the court.” Judge Brown Jackson brings to the court a deep knowledge of and experience with our nation’s legal system, though — arguably more importantly — she has demonstrated experience utilizing her past positions as a public defender, federal judge, and member of the US Sentencing Commission assessing misuse of the justice system and advocating for transparency and reform. Judge Brown Jackson’s shining career has perfectly prepared her for her place on the bench.
Judge Brown Jackson’s nomination and confirmation affirm the original intent of our founding documents — that our nation flourishes because of our diversity, that representative leadership at the highest levels of our judicial system are critical to protecting that diversity. And yet, the treatment that she has endured over the last several months, and notably during her confirmation hearings, reminds our nation of just how precarious protecting this multiracial democracy continues to be. As the nation witnessed Judge Brown Jackson graciously and courageously sit through days of demeaning, falsely accusatory questioning, we were offered an opportunity to critically assess the racist fissures that would allow the confirmation hearings of one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees in the history of the court to be politically repurposed as a venue for the perpetuation of misogynistic, white supremacist attacks that sought to undermine our nation’s aspirations
for equal justice under the law.
As our nation approaches the midterm season in which every House seat and more than a third of Senate seats will be up for reelection, Judge Brown Jackson’s confirmation is a timely reminder that structural racism is pervasive. While the Biden-Harris Administration and progressive Congressional leadership have made critical strides asserting the importance of racially equitable governing, we have a long journey ahead towards realizing a federal government that is not only “not racist” but actively antiracist. As exhibited in Judge Brown Jackson’s confirmation process, exclusion has been and remains a defining characteristic of our country. It is critical to understand that this undermines the very strength of our democracy. We must remove anti-Blackness from our policies and institutions, strengthening our democracy for all
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and demonstrating the power of a true multiracial democracy. We call on our national leaders to center Black people in this moment and commit to a Racial Equity Governing Agenda
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.
In the words of Senator Cory Booker, “You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.” We see you, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and we thank you, for everything you are and for honoring this nation with your wisdom, power, and grace.
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