Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated for the Supreme Court, making her the first ever Black woman to be nominated for this position. The nomination comes two years after Biden touted promises of nominating an unspecified Black woman to the Supreme Court.
This will promote Jackson from the US Court of Appeals, on which she was seated last year. Previously, she was a clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer for eight years. Graduating from Harvard Law School and spending time as a public defender, she has a broad variety of experience with the legal system. This also makes her the first Justice to have spent time as a public defender since Thurgood Marshall.
LaTosha Brown, one of the creators of the Organization Black Lives Matter, commends Jackson for her time spent as a public defender. “Here’s a woman who graduated from Harvard,” Brown said. “She didn’t have to do that.”
Despite this, Jackson does not appear to be receiving the desired bipartisan support from Senate Republicans. Senator Lindsey Graham calls her nomination an instance in which “the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again,” despite her relatively moderate views to many leftists. Many Republicans also see her nomination as an example of affirmative action in an increasingly left political space, despite her myriad of qualifications. However, Senate Republicans have neglected to push back, instead choosing to focus on other battleground issues such as inflation and rising crime.
Her nomination was greeted enthusiastically, however, by a variety of left-leaning advocacy groups, who have high hopes for her future decisions in cases concerning reproductive health, gun control, the environment and other topics that are especially important to many Democrats. This support however, has led some Republicans to label her as “far left.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has rejected this notion, stating, “She ruled in favor of Republicans and Democrats. She’s ruled for and against the government, regardless of whether the government is led by a Democratic president or Republican president.”
Education at Barstow is intended to be largely de-politicized and unbiased, however this leaves a gap in any explanation as to why Barstow students hold such vastly different political views. One study done by KU contends that media coverage influences people’s opinions about politics. This research extends to students; the type of information that students receive about a political topic can influence their opinion on it. Barstow student Gordon Beal (‘23) gives his opinion, “Most people get their news from online, and not always [from] the most reliable sources. I think that there’s a lot of distrust, and I think there will be a switch from television.”
Beal (‘23) cites this as the reason for Jackson’s semi-unpopularity among his peers, “She’s getting her name dragged through the mud. She overqualified, but she’s still getting dragged through the mud,” he said.
“It’s cool that this is happening, but it’s sad that it’s happening this late,” said Barstow student Anita Mohan (‘23). “Like, there’s this perceived aura of increased-progressiveness that has become heavier, but it’s stuff like this that makes it seem less authentic.” Mohan (‘23) tries to stay educated by reading news articles and researching topics as much as possible.
Mohan’s viewpoint comes as a unique inverse to some of the Republicans in Congress; rather than Jackson being labeled as a “diversity hire,” she’s a talented addition to the Supreme Court. Some Republicans in Congress seem to be operating under the notion that Black women are only diversity hires; even when talented, overqualified, and uniquely suited for the job, they are labeled as unfit. Fortunately for democrats, it seems Senator Susan Collins of Maine will be the first republican to back Biden’s nomination.
