President Biden’s announcement that he would nominate a Black woman to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court wasn’t entirely a surprise. By making that pronouncement, he was essentially fulfilling a promise made on the 2020 campaign trail. But the implications of that pledge go far beyond the historical barrier he aims to shatter.
“That person will be the first Black woman ever nominated,” Biden vowed in January when Breyer announced his retirement after nearly 30 years on the bench. “It is long overdue in my view.”
Biden’s announcement came despite polling that indicates the vast majority of the country wants the best qualified candidate, regardless of race or gender, to be considered.
It is certainly appropriate to want a Court that accurately represents the country. And it is why Clarence Thomas is such a vital figure not just in the present-day, but in the overall history of the Supreme Court.
When he was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, there was never any question that Bush would nominate an African American to replace the legendary Thurgood Marshall.
However, as President Biden goes through the process of deciding which Black female he will nominate, what most Americans will keep in mind is that race is not a reality with one dimension.
Despite what some might think, Black reality is as multifaceted and complex as is all of human reality.
And the views of Black Americans cover the full scope of the political spectrum.
Clarence Thomas has shown himself to be a brilliant conservative addition to the court.
Justice Thomas provided a necessary perspective, a Black conservative’s viewpoint, that has been crucial to the high court in the decades he has served. And that is despite the shameful circus he endured, under then-Senator Biden, who presided over his confirmation hearings.
Biden’s promise, however, reeks of Democratic hypocrisy. Why? Because it is clear by some of the rumored “front-runners” for the nomination that the president is only considering liberal Black female judges. Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who used to clerk for Breyer, and Leondra Kruger, currently on California’s Supreme Court, are just two of the left-leaning judges on the short list.
It’s clear that consideration for Black female judges will begin and end with only those candidates who subscribe to the left’s harmful progressive policies. That’s not just conjecture; past history has shown Democrats, who love to claim they are the champion of all minority groups, have blocked qualified minority candidates from judicial appointments simply because they held conservative beliefs.
There is no reason to believe this search for a Supreme Court nominee will be nothing but an exercise in hypocrisy by Biden and the Democrats.