‘We’ve made it.’ Jackson celebrates rise from Miami to first Black woman on High Court
With an eye toward history, both past and present, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Friday that she would do her part to promote shared American principles of democracy and equal justice under the law as the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Jackson said she hopes Senate confirmation will be a moment that all Americans can take pride in, as she reflected on her personal journey and “the heavy lifting” of African-American leaders who came before her and made her nomination to the nation’s highest court possible.
Quoting the African-American poet Maya Angelou, Jackson said that she was “bringing the gifts my ancestors gave” and that her nomination was the “dream and the hope of the slave.”
“We have come a long way toward perfecting our union,” she reflected. “In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
The Senate voted to confirm Jackson to the court on Thursday afternoon by a vote of 53-47, with three Republicans offering their support to the nomination. Jackson, who grew up in the Miami area, will join the court later this year when sitting Justice Stephen Breyer retires.
Jackson became emotional as she spoke about her parents’ upbringing in a racially segregated America and the societal contributions of African-American leaders, including the first African-American woman to serve on the federal bench, Constance Baker Motley.
“I think of them as the true path breakers. I am just the very lucky first inheritor of the dream of liberty and justice for all,” Jackson said.
The line appeared to move President Joe Biden to tears. He removed his Aviator sunglasses to rub his right eye as Jackson spoke, her voice breaking as the audience responded with applause.
As she acknowledged her husband, Patrick, and other family members in the audience for the event, Jackson also teased her daughters, Talia and Leila, about missing school to attend the celebration.
“I bet you never thought you’d get to skip school by spending a day at the White House,” Jackson said to laughter. “This is all pretty exciting for me as well, but nothing has brought me greater joy than being your mother.”
Guests of the outdoor event mingled against the flag-lined backdrop of the South Portico of the White House, many of them maskless, sharing handshakes and hugs as they posed for photos to commemorate the occasion.
The White House said that Democratic leaders, Florida lawmakers who are Democrats, all current and former justices of the Supreme Court and every U.S. senator who voted for Jackson were among the guests invited to attend the event.
“Thank you as well to the many, many kindhearted people from all over this country and around the world who’ve reached out to me directly in recent weeks with messages of support,” Jackson said in her remarks. “It’s been somewhat overwhelming, in a good way, to recently be flooded with thousands of notes and cards and photos expressing just how much this moment means to so many people.”
Jackson said the messages she received from children were “especially meaningful, because more than anything they speak directly to the hope and promise of America.”
“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. But we’ve made it. We’ve made it — all of us,” she said. “And our children are telling me that they see now, more than ever, that here in America anything is possible.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black and female vice president, said that the “road toward our more perfect union is not always straight, and it is not always smooth, but sometimes it leads to a day” like this one that encourages and inspires the nation.
“We are also here in great part, because of one, President Joe Biden,” she said to extended applause, “and because of Joe Biden’s vision and leadership and commitment — a lifelong commitment to building a better America.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, of New York and Illinois respectively, joined Biden administration allies at the event.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive earlier in the week for COVID-19, as did multiple Democratic lawmakers and Cabinet officials. White House officials said the president and vice president both tested negative on Friday after interacting with individuals who came down with the virus, including Pelosi. The Democratic leader said she received a positive result two days after she attended a White House event with Biden and Harris that was moved indoors due to rain and did not have a mask requirement.
The weather improved in Washington ahead of Jackson’s confirmation celebration on Friday, leading Biden to comment as he began his remarks that it was “not only a sunny day” but the appointment would let so much “sun shine on so many young women, so many young Black women, so many minorities.”
Biden said Jackson’s confirmation would be viewed in the future as a fundamental shift in American policy.
“Today is a good day. A day that history is going to remember. And in years to come, they’re going to be proud of what we did,” Biden said, in a nod to his own legacy.
Biden said that earlier in the day, he looked out onto the South Lawn as he spoke by phone with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and told the leader of his plans to introduce Jackson to the world on Friday afternoon.
“And he said to me, he said, ‘Keep it up. Keep it up,’ ” Biden said. “We’re going to ‘keep it up.’ ”
At the White House after the event, during her regular press briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki said that the historic nature of Jackson’s appointment was also sinking in for Biden aides who worked on the nomination.
“I’m going to try not to ugly cry about this day, and which we were all doing on the South Lawn,” Psaki said.
Psaki said that Biden intended to convey in his remarks that at the White House every day is history, and while history can be “heartbreaking” and “exhausting,” it can also be “joyful,” as it was at Jackson’s confirmation event.
“No one can steal our sunshine today, because that is how everybody is feeling,” Psaki said of Biden’s aides.
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 11:43 AM with the headline "‘We’ve made it.’ Jackson celebrates rise from Miami to first Black woman on High Court."
