Will GOP Reveal Racism and Misogyny During Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings?

A close examination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s record offers no reason to deny her confirmation as our next Supreme Court Justice. However, many of the senators who will decide her fate are members of the party of racism and bigotry.

In October of 2020, Moscow Mitch McConnell broke his own rule, established in February of 2016, when he forced a vote to confirm religious extremist Amy Coney Barrett as a poor replacement for the great Ruth Bader Ginsburg just eight days prior to the election. Old, white men from the right side of the aisle acted quickly to confirm Barrett. She is white and calls herself a Christian.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be attacked viciously by the same men who gave America a biased and unqualified justice in 2020. However, Jackson is Black and will also likely face the prejudices of racism and misogyny.

I fear that Judge Jackson’s hearings, which begin today, will be another example of how ineffective and incompetent the United States Senate has become over the last 40 years.

However, these Republicans in name only may find themselves overmatched by Jackson. On CBS Sunday Morning, her three closest friends offered some insight into the woman underneath the robe.

Jackson will be very prepared for any and all questions asked of her this week. While attending Harvard Law School, she was given membership in the prestigious Harvard Law Review. I am afraid that some of the men and women who claim to be Republicans today are missing a few rungs on the intelligence ladder.

I find it very interesting that when Judge Jackson is confirmed, the three justices who lean toward a more progressive view of the Constitution will all be women. By the end of 2020, Donald Trump and Moscow Mitch McConnell had stacked the court with six of the nine justices who support the end of Roe v Wade. I am sure that Jackson will be questioned extensively about her position on women’s reproductive rights.

I continue to campaign for more diverse representation in Washington. Today’s House and Senate are too old, too male, and too white. It does not represent America in the 21st century.

I am very pleased that President Joe Biden kept his campaign promise and chose a black woman to fill the seat vacated by Justice Breyer. I have never considered Clarence Thomas, a “Black man.” He was Antonin Scalia’s protégé, and his decisions remain aligned with the other white men and one white woman on the Court. It will be refreshing to have another woman on the court who opposes the biased views of Barrett. The SCOTUS will be refreshed by a new view, a new perspective, helping America move into the 21st century.

My concern about how Judge Jackson will be treated goes back to February of 2016 when Justice Scalia died suddenly. Moscow Mitch refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees in history. Judge Garland is now the Attorney General of the United States of America. This was when the old man of the Senate made his rule, which he broke when it was to his advantage.

I am a proud Independent. However, over the last 42 years, I have learned that Republicans cannot be trusted. They serve special interests and do not give a damn about the majority of the American people.

Not to confirm, Judge Jackson would be a great injustice. Just once, all Republicans must do the right thing for their country.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

Daily Kos: Look for Republicans to signal just how racist they’ll go as Jackson’s SCOTUS hearing starts; by Laura Clawson
Politico: Jackson’s hearings could produce fireworks. These are the topics that’ll likely cause sparks. By Josh Gerstein and Marianne Levine

Featured and Top Image by Lloyd DeGrane Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Victoria Pickering’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License