OPINION: The absence of a Black woman on the Supreme Court deprives fellow justices of insights from the perspectives of someone who has experienced both racism and sexism firsthand.
I don’t often agree with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress before Trump was defeated for reelection. But I strongly agree with Graham’s recent comment endorsing diversity in filling the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court: “Let’s make the court more like America, but qualifications have to be the biggest consideration.”
Graham went on to praise U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs of South Carolina, a brilliant Black woman being considered by President Joe Biden for appointment to the Supreme Court, calling the judge “highly qualified.”
I’m not endorsing any particular candidate, but Graham is right about Judge Childs’ qualifications. And she is just one of many extraordinarily talented Black female attorneys and judges who would make outstanding Supreme Court justices.
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Unfortunately, President Biden has been harshly and unfairly criticized by many Republicans and right-wing commentators for saying he plans to nominate “someone with extraordinary qualifications, character experience and integrity” who “will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
For example, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is one of the Republicans who have completely ignored Biden’s comment about qualifications and focused solely on the fact that Biden said he wants to put a Black woman on the high court for the first time in its 233-year history.
Speaking on his podcast, Cruz said of Biden: “The fact that he’s willing to make a promise that it must be a Black woman — I gotta say that’s offensive.” Cruz then went even further and ridiculously called Biden’s promise “actually an insult to Black women.”
The Republican argument seems to be that no matter which Black woman Biden nominates, she must be less qualified than any other potential justices. After 108 White men, two Black men and five women (four Whites and a Latina) on the Supreme Court, many in the GOP seem to feel it’s just too soon to add a Black woman.
Source: After 108 white men, the Supreme Court could use a Black woman’s perspective
