BLACK WOMEN IN LAW FEEL PRIDE AND FRUSTRATION AHEAD OF COURT NOMINEE

Source: Amber Ford for The New York Times

As President Biden announced his nomination of the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Black women lawyers and judges experience complicated emotions as they reflect about their position in society and in the legal profession as a whole. Black women account for only two percent of the nation’s 1.3 million lawyers. As they make up a small elite group, many Black women have experienced discrimination within their legal profession.

The inclusion of a Black woman to the highest court will mark the first time that a large segment of Americans would feel represented by those in power.

Despite the challenges, many women describe how they still have a love for the law. President Biden’s vow to put a Black woman on the highest court, the Supreme Court of the United States, has sparked conversations about what that would mean not only for Black women, but for all women. Biden’s pledge is a large leap towards overdue underrepresentation. “And while the inclusion of a Black woman to the court would not shift the conservative majority… it would mark the first time that a large segment of Americans would feel represented by those in power.”

Citation: Mzezewa, Tariro, and Audra. “Black Women in Law Feel Pride and Frustration Ahead of Court Nominee.” The New York Times. The New York Times, January 29, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/29/us/supreme-court-black-women-biden.html?smid=em-share.