Joe Biden is Curtailing Racism at an Enigmatic Rate- Or is he?

 A Long Awaited Reparation? Or An Ostentatious Presentation?

“Of the 115 justices who have served on the bench since 1789, 108 — roughly 94 percent — have been white men. Zero percent have been Black women.”(New York Times). During his campaign speech, President Joe Biden swore to usher in a black woman as Supreme Court nominee. This affirmative action was made to allay racial prejudice and biases towards those of a darker pigment and opposing gender, but has stirred people into disarray, not with disagreeance to choosing a black woman, but with consternation on whether this move was only executed for political gain and for choosing someone by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character.

   

    President Biden took an oath that had thrilled most and flabbergasted some. As Alexander Goldstein from an editorial writing to the New York Times scripted, “Since President Biden boxed himself in with his pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, he has no realistic political choice but to do so. This reinforces the perception of the Democratic Party as having surrendered to identity politics, but so be it: That ship has long since sailed.”(New York Times). As precipitously put, Biden had to make way to his promise, and had no choice but to go through and appoint a black woman as nominee. Although being bolstered by the legitimacy of his decision, he is merely taking a stab at a pluralistic society. With the invention of time travel not yet a reality, he cannot take back his words, and by electing a black woman, applied by the moral indignation he was fueled with the moment he took that oath.

    However, it could be contended that by choosing a black woman, the qualifications she holds may falter, as proven in the past by multifarious nominees , and the foundation of the Supreme Court could crumble from Biden’s obligations to his affirmative actions. This, although a factual statement,  was blatantly squabbled by Nadia E. Brown, a professor of government and director of women and gender studies at Georgetown University, who verbalized, “‘Listen, her being Black isn’t good enough,’ Brown continued. ‘We need somebody with a depth of civil rights and voting rights experience in light of this attack on democracy right now.’”(Washington Post). The current candidates for Supreme Court nominee were not names arbitrarily drawn out of a hat, but people analyzed for inclusion and competence for weeks of accessibility to candidates, before finalizing the decisions to these top three. Their pigmentation and orientation may have been one minor criteria, but the certification the final nominees hold are the reason the President of the United States has decided to swear them in.

    Although it is clear that identity politics play a huge part in this interlude, President Joe Biden made an oath and an acknowledgement to the black female community, people who have long since been suppressed and discounted. This step Mr. Biden is taking may be the spark to a revolution for American politics, and might take us just a little bit closer towards finally ending racial exclusion.

Bibliography:

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/opinion/supreme-court-nomination-identity-politics.html

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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/opinion/letters/supreme-court-stephen-breyer-biden.html

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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/27/biden-black-woman-supreme-court/

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