By Jennifer Ju
Facing Ourselves
Jennifer Ju
Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer recently announced that he will retire, leaving a vacancy which President Joe Biden says he will fill this year.
In his remarks on Jan. 27, Biden said, “While I’ve been studying candidates’ backgrounds and writings, I’ve made no decisions except one: The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
This declaration, met with both applause and criticism, asks us to consider what it means to have the first Black female appointed to the Supreme Court.
Some say that the focus on race further divides us, making us focus on our differences rather than what we have in common. After all, even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Many say that focusing on race perpetuates racial stereotypes and racism itself.
As a minority myself, I have at times wondered if the emphasis on race causes a deeper divide. I have hoped that perhaps people were truly “color blind” when it came to evaluating me, as well as others, by the content of our “character.” I admit there are instances when I have questioned whether the consideration of race handicaps the struggle to be viewed as equals.
These concerns are shared by many. A new ABC News poll regarding Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court finds “just over three-quarters of Americans (76 percent) want Biden to consider ‘all possible nominees.’ Just 23 percent want him to automatically follow through on his history-making commitment that the White House seems keen on seeing through.”
Historically, presidents of both parties have focused on race and/or gender in selecting Supreme Court justices. Like Biden, Ronald Reagan pledged on the campaign trail to select a woman to the Supreme Court – a promise he kept by appointing Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981.
Donald Trump also promised rallygoers in Fayetteville, North Carolina, “I will be putting forth a nominee next week. It will be a woman,” and followed through on his commitment by appointing Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020. Records also indicate that both Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush favored appointing a Black candidate to the Supreme Court.
If there is historical precedent for the focus on race or gender in appointing Supreme Court nominees, why is Biden’s announcement to select a Black female overwhelmingly unpopular? The underlying concern currently expressed by many is that by pledging to specifically appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court, Biden will be selecting a candidate who is not qualified to serve on the highest court in this country.
Let’s dissect this further. What lies at the root of this concern that an undeserving Black female candidate would be the next Supreme Court justice? Do you believe that there exist highly qualified Black females who are equal to their non-minority peers and who would be deserving appointees to the Supreme Court, or do you think that by focusing on selecting a Black woman, we are diluting the talent pool and settling for less?
Deep down, is there a suspicion or assumption that Black and other minority candidates are likely not as qualified as their white peers, and any achievement is due to a sort of affirmative action charity case? Do we believe that objectively less qualified minorities are being accepted into schools, elected to government positions and taking jobs from White people based on their skin color?
Or do we truly believe that these minorities are selected based on their ability and that consideration of race may propel them over other candidates only if all other qualifications are equal?
Let’s pursue additional reflection. Does giving extra consideration to race, if all other factors are equal, help level the field by balancing out an implicit bias that often benefits non-minorities – one in which the impact of privilege is dismissed and assumes that non-minorities are being judged by their ability and not by their own, lighter skin color? Have we ever questioned if the best candidate was selected when a non-minority is elected, admitted or appointed? On what basis do we assume that the minority was less qualified than their white peer?
We must also examine if the prescription for racism lies in a kind of racial color blindness – a reverting back to the proverbial melting pot analogy in which all races and cultures are blended into one, indistinguishable, “American” mold. Do we really believe that all people are created equal, despite a long history of deep-rooted biases, regardless of skin color? Is there no need to correct past injustices? Is there no such thing as an uneven playing field for minorities?
We cannot both say that we are colorblind and that race does not matter, and simultaneously assume an achievement or position has been doled out to an unqualified individual as some sort of race card handout.
The extent of disapproval regarding Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court has prompted me to investigate my underlying belief about race and ability. I encourage everyone to do the same.
Jennifer Ju, MD is a physician who is a graduate of the Brown University family medicine residency program. She is also an actor and writer who has performed in various theatres across the state and whose plays have been produced locally. Ju has also presented numerous online and in-person workshops on mindfulness, health and wellness for parents and children, as well as for pre-K-12 educators in New Haven and Fairfield counties.