By: Mihika Yadav
Image of Ketanji Brown Jackson making a speech backed by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris
In late February this year, US President Joe Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court.
Now confirmed, Jackson will be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. In doing so, Biden is following through on his 2020 presidential campaign promise to diversify the judicial system.
Jackson aims to help those who did not have the financial means to do so and would be the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.
This confirmation means a lot to marginalised people throughout the world, especially Black women. Jackson is able to offer a unique perspective on politics and law, based on her experiences and the challenges she has experienced as a Black woman and mother.
As per the White House official page, Jackson has always been a high achiever, part of the speech and debate teams, and elected as ‘mayor’ for her high school.
Image of Ketanji Brown Jackson with her classmates at Harvard University
Despite her high school guidance counsellor urging her to be ‘realistic’ about her goal of getting into Harvard, Jackson graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude and then Harvard Law School, cum laude. She was even an editor for Harvard Law Review.
From this success story arises the question as to why it has taken an alarming 233 years to see a Black woman confirmed to serve in the Supreme Court.
Despite getting a look into Ketanji Brown Jackson’s prosperous career as a part of the American Judicial System, it is important to acknowledge that this is unfortunately a very unlikely outcome.
Women in male-dominated professions, especially those of business and law, tend to lose support as they make headway in their careers.
There is an unsaid yet indisputable bias for men in higher positions, giving women insufficient opportunities for advancement.
Women of colour, especially Black women, are much less likely than white women to be promoted into management. Also, they are more susceptible to rude comments and harassment in the workplace as per McKinsey and Company surveys.
Black women claim they are bullied at work and in courtrooms, and that when they speak up about inappropriate behaviour, they are retaliated against. They also mention they faced stereotypes about being aggressive and loud, having to continuously prove themselves to clients and colleagues.
Image of chart highlighting inequalities faced by Black women in law
As per Michele Bratcher Goodwin, a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California Irvine, Black women have to climb ‘very steep mountains in order to dismantle historic patterns of discrimination, segregation and exclusion’.
Jackson addressed the challenges she encountered being a mother and a Black woman in law in a 2017 lecture at the University of Georgia School of Law.
“The hours are long, the workflow is unpredictable, you have little control over your time and your schedule — and you start to feel as though the demands of the billable hour are constantly in conflict with the needs of your children and your family responsibilities,”
Megan Byrne, a supervising attorney and director of the Racial Justice Project at the Centre for Appellate Litigation, who mainly defends underprivileged criminal defendants, expressed her appreciation about the news of Jackson’s confirmation to serve on the Supreme Court.
“It’s sad that this is a rarity and so groundbreaking, but it’s made me more hopeful for the future.”
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