In the era of Putin, Trump, DeSantis, Scott, Gaetz, Taylor-Greene, Carlson, QAnon, inflation, climate change, COVID, white nationalism and an insurrection, we needed this. Via Senate vote, America now has its first black female Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Moreover, the confirmation was presided over by a historically first female vice president who happens to be a person of color, Kamala Harris. “I believe so strongly that we needed a court that looks like America,” underscored President Joe Biden, who had nominated Judge Jackson and kept a campaign promise.
Rarely have we’ve been privileged to see such real change in American history unfold in real, count-down time. And this was no affirmative action appointment. Jackson’s education and judicial experience actually elevates the court. Who cares if Ted Cruz isn’t celebrating?
Judge Jackson’s perspective was spot on. “It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” she pointed out. “We’ve made it, all of us.”
Yes, these are challenging, contentious, fraught times, but knowing someone like Ketanji Brown Jackson can realize her dream–even in an America riven by racial politics–gives us all hope when we’ve never needed it more.