Washington, DC – March 21: US Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn in. A [+]
Many observers of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination hearing – bound by bizarre questions about “racist children”, a request to rate his own religious beliefs on a scale of 1-10 and even a sudden and a child’s walkout – were unprepared and seemingly unreasonable and Confused yet confusing in the line of defined questions. The CNN article “Ketanji Brown Disrespecting Racist, Sexist Clay on Jackson” provides an interesting historical context that helps explain the additional challenges that Judge Jackson faces. “Black women, historically, have worked tirelessly to transform American democracy and political institutions that have failed to recognize their humanity, brilliance, and power,” the article emphasizes. “Since the end of slavery, the search for citizenship and dignity has proved particularly difficult for black women who – who have been denied the right to vote on the basis of both their race and their gender – have been in a state of political and social instability.”
Even before the hearing began, Conservative host Tucker Carlson’s panoramic question about Jackson’s LSAT score, in predictable bartender fashion, with his impeccable credentials and irrefutable qualifications, was widely panned as objectionable.
Although many pundits and legal analysts scratched their heads and grabbed their pearls after seeing the wreckage of a waiting process train for one of the most important roles in our justice system, there was a distinct population that was nothing short of astonishing – black women.
Online Many black women যদিও though very proud of her accomplishments and amazed at her extraordinary compassion, dignity, and perseverance which often sounded like a circus-are also seen to trigger hearings as somewhat poignant, sometimes poignant reminders ডে the double standard that we too I know very well, “You have to work twice as hard to get half the distance.”
When the founder and managing attorney, firm for culture Rukayatu Tijani, Esq. Hearing Carlson’s remarks, he was “shocked, but not surprised.” As a black female attorney, she knows about the unusual levels of profession representation for black women, as well as the extra stress and very real challenges that black women lawyers face. The 2020 National Association for Law Placement reports that “less than four percent of all partners are women of color – a figure that remains extremely low due to a significant decline in both women and people of color. The level of partnership and a pattern that all Strong size and true across most jurisdictions.
For Tizani, the lack of inclusion was obvious. “I would say that in many cases, I was actually perceived as much younger than me, and my more junior white male colleagues were perceived as my boss. I was consistently ‘tied’ to the case team’s emails, and the case strategy meetings were accidentally ‘left’, “he explains. Without such dynamic mentors, I really don’t know if I could have stayed. Attorney. ”
Janel Benjamin, JD, founder and chief equity officer of All Things Equitable, has created a doubly difficult YouTube series highlighting the experience of black women in the workplace. Benjamin explains, “The second difficult issue is a show about how black women from all walks of life have to work twice as hard to be recognized in the workplace. “It’s twice as difficult for us when we’re in corporate spaces. Many guests have been forced to leave the corporate space or enter the organization for the first time, despite being the best and brightest because of the systematic racism in our employment system. ”
While tempted to view Judge Jackson’s history-making nomination as another indication that we’ve moved beyond “racism,” it’s important to temper that cohesive celebration with a calm, reflective context. Indeed, when we celebrate the prospect of the first black woman Supreme Court judgment, it is equally important to ask, “How many black women have been ignored for that high honor?” For the past 233 years, how many black women scholars have not been considered because their deep wit and undeniable achievements had no resemblance to the deeply immersed white supremacy and society defined by Misgini?
During Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s comments on her nomination to the Supreme Court, she agreed to Constance Baker Motley, the first black woman to serve as a federal judge. The NPR article reads, “A black woman in the high court is a good start. But there are limits to representation.” Highlights Charlotte Ray, the first black woman lawyer, Jane Bolin, the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, and Paulie Murray, the first black woman judge in the United States and a renowned civil rights lawyer. Arguably, equally impressive legal minds and politicians such as Sherlyn Eiffel, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisolom and many more could reasonably be among our country’s high court judges but not for the fact that they did not see the part. While it is easy to focus on the optics of this historic nomination as a victory, the hard truth is that to date 94% of Supreme Court justices are white men – where they make up about 30% of the US population – and this is no accident.
Indeed, black women are intimately acquainted with the need to prove themselves in a culture that punishes us for the courage to be both black and feminine in a century-old social hierarchy that traditionally – often dramatically – prioritizes whiteness and masculinity over virtually everything. We are accustomed to a clear professional double standard for which there are more and less rewards. In some ways, Judge Jackson’s broken glass roof nomination and confirmation process both reaffirmed and challenged the long-standing proverb, which has historically provided hope and inspiration for generations of marginalized communities. Her nomination is not just a “win” for black women. Indeed, it is a sign of progress for an entire country — still struggling to build a capacity and leadership structure that reflects its own beautiful diversity.