A Black woman on the Supreme Court isn’t a problem; it fixes one
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By DERON SNYDER
In glaring ways, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is too extreme to be representative of typical thought patterns.
But his response to a question on Tuesday illustrates the implicit basis weaved into this country’s fabric since Betsy Ross grabbed her needle and thread. While fielding queries about President Joe Biden’s impending Supreme Court nominee, McConnell was asked about the makeup of his staff, specifically, how many Black women he employs.
“Actually, I haven’t checked,” McConnell said. “We don’t have a racial quota in my office.”
He went on to say he’s had “a number of African American employees, both male and female, over the years, in all kinds of different positions, including speechwriter.”
Good for him.
The fact that “quota” leapt to mind is illuminating. Mandates are an instinctual explanation for some when brown faces are sprinkled in lily-white spaces. It can’t be that they’re brilliant and hard-working, educated and eminently qualified. No. Their presence must be the result of affirmative action, which surely robbed an innocent white person of a position they deserved.
When Biden vowed to nominate a Black woman as Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s replacement, critics lost their minds. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said it was “offensive” and “an insult to Black women.” Georgetown Law administrator Ilya Shapiro asserted that the pick would be a “lesser Black woman” and not the best jurist available. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he wants “a nominee who knows a law book from a J.Crew catalog.”
Not sure where J.Crew ranks among Black women’s favorite fashion brands. But Kennedy isn’t alone in his assumption that Biden’s nominee won’t be qualified due to her race and gender. Conversely, we’re conditioned to automatically assume men like Kennedy and Cruz are capable and competent due to their skin, genitalia, and law degrees.
Never mind that Biden’s nominee – whoever she is – will be an accomplished and experienced jurist. At this moment, she’s perhaps seated on a state Supreme Court or federal circuit court. Maybe she’s teaching at a law school or working as general counsel in the private sector. In any case, her credentials will be impeccable and her reputation unassailable (though the confirmation process will suggest otherwise).
True, nominees regularly are grilled by senators across the aisle, and Biden’s choice will face the usual heat based on ideology and legal interpretations. But it will be 1,000 degrees hotter based on her demographics. Folks already are turning up their noses, simply because Biden predetermined he wants a Black woman on the Supreme Court.
A recent ABC News/Ipos poll found that 76% of Americans believe Biden should “consider all possible nominees” instead of honoring his campaign promise to nominate a Black woman. Not surprisingly, 95% of Republicans expressed that belief, compared to 54% of Democrats. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me) has said she’d welcome the appointment, but she called Biden’s approach “clumsy at best.”
What’s really clumsy is the way we continue to trip and fall over the notion of “most qualified.”
The presumption is Biden can’t know for certain that a Black woman is the most-qualified candidate unless he considers ALL possible candidates. But after whittling down that vast pool, we’d have a number of candidates who, arguably, are equally qualified. Intangibles and subjective factors would play into which candidate you deemed superior to the rest, and reasonable minds could disagree.
But it’s unreasonable to suggest there isn’t a Black woman in the USA who’s just as qualified as anyone else to replace Justice Breyer. It’s unreasonable to suggest the Supreme Court’s status quo is okay, where 112 of the 115 Justices have been white (and 110 have been men). It’s also unreasonable to suggest Biden isn’t getting the best candidate if he’s intent on diversifying the court.
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) can’t argue with that logic.
“Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America,” Graham told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He added he “can’t think of a better person” than a particular South Carolina federal district judge who’s among the candidates being considered.
Here’s hoping that McConnell and other critics come around. Even if they mistake Biden’s choice as a “quota” nominee, the fact remains that 97% of Supreme Court Justices have been white.
That’s the affirmative action problem that needs to be fixed.
