Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Happens to Be Black

[MAGA SUPPORTER:] “So President Biden picked this SCOTUS justice because of her color. How sad.”

[ME:] “So the first 35 U.S. presidents picked the first 95 SCOTUS justices because of their color (and their gender). How sad.”

The first African American woman Supreme Court justice, federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, is about to be confirmed by the Senate. There has been a lot of phony outrage from the white nationalist far right that a nominee was picked because of the color of her skin rather than the content of her character and the caliber of her qualifications. (President Joe Biden had committed to nominating a Black woman to the Court when the opening occurred.) Fox News pundits and other histrionic MAGA ultraconservatives have complained: “Why not pick the most qualified candidate, no matter his or her race.”

The fact is that at any given time there are, and always have been (at least since they’ve been free citizens allowed to attend schools and colleges), plenty of supremely qualified Supreme Court candidates of all races, including African Americans, and both genders. If these potential candidates are all qualified, then the question of their race always is present, either consciously or unconsciously.

You’ll see some version of the following sentiment all over Fox News, Candice Owen’s blog, and social media:

[MAGA SUPPORTER:] “So President Biden picked this SCOTUS justice because of her color. How sad.”

And my response to this statement, wherever I see it:

[ME:] “So the first 35 U.S. presidents picked the first 95 SCOTUS justices because of their color (and their gender). How sad.”■