Judge Jackson confirmed as first Black female high court justice
11th April 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made history last week when her nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 53-47 on April 7. With the confirmation, Jackson, once sworn in, will become the first African-American woman to serve on the top court in the country.
Three members of the Senate’s Republican caucus joined all 50 of the members of the Democratic caucus to approve Jackson’s nomination by President Joe Biden. After 115 previous U.S. Supreme Court nominations included no Black women, Jackson finally broke the barrier last week.
On last Friday, Jackson was joined by Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other supporters during a celebration of the milestone at the White House. During an emotional speech at the event, Jackson did a callback to all African-American women, including the jurists who paved the way for her rise to the Supreme Court.
“I am standing on the shoulders of my own role models,” she said, according to news coverage.
“We made it,” she added. “All of us.”
Jackson also said that she was “ever buoyed by the leadership of generations past who helped to light the way. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, and my personal heroine, Judge Constance Baker Motley. They and so many others did the heavy lifting that made this day possible. … I think of them as the true path-breakers.”
In his own remarks, Biden said he believes Jackson’s confirmation will have a far-reaching impact on the country, especially for the upcoming generations of Black American women.
“This is going to let so much sun shine on so many young women, so many young Black women,” Biden said, per news reports. “We’re going to look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history.”
The 51-year-old Jackson will replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the court’s most liberal judges.
The Harvard-educated Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., but was raised in Miami, Fla., and has served as a U.S. Appeals Court judge since June 2021, a brief stint that followed an eight-year tenure as a federal District Court Judge.
The momentous landmark was celebrated by Jackson’s supporters, both inside the Beltway and around the country.
“With the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson another glass ceiling came crashing down – and what a glorious sound it was,” said Congressman Troy Carter, the only African-American member of Louisiana’s Congressional delegation, in a statement. “It is long past time the Supreme Court bench includes a Black woman Justice, and I am so grateful to President Biden for keeping his promise and selecting such an unimpeachable nominee. This is a moment for celebration.
“Justice Jackson exemplifies the best of America,” Carter added. “Throughout her career she has been a voice for the voiceless and a committed advocate in the pursuit of justice.”
Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang said in a statement that Jackson’s achievement hopefully will serve as inspiration for other American citizens.
“Justice Jackson is the first Black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 230-year history and the fifth woman out of the 115 justices to serve on the high court,” Huang said. “Justice Jackson’s elevation to our nation’s highest court today is a cause for celebration and an encouraging signal to future generations that aspire to the highest offices in our nation.”
Other observers and commentators, especially other Black women throughout the nation, were equally as excited. For example, Phyllis Hill, founder of the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative, praised Jackson’s confirmation, referring to the rancorous confirmation hearings in the Senate that broke down along bitter party lines.
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has done everything possible to prepare for this moment. She has done everything that Black women throughout history have been told to do – prepare, work hard and be overqualified … ,” Hill said in a statement as the confirmation vote was taking place. “Her impending confirmation is a moment of celebration, not just for the jurist and her family, but for Black women who wake up every day and attempt to be the best version of themselves. Certainly, her nomination process was paved with vitriol and hate. But the fact that she is still standing is of great pride to the ancestors, to Black women and girls, and to marginalized communities everywhere.”
This article originally published in the April 11, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
