Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first Black woman in American history nominated to the Supreme Court. Selected by President Joe Biden, Judge Jackson has a stellar record that includes graduation from Harvard Law School, clerking for Supreme Court Justice Breyer, working as a Public Defender, and being a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Even though Jackson’s current position is as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C., and the Senate confirmed her to that position in 2021, the current confirmation hearing has been anything but pleasant. One member of the Judiciary Committee spent his time in the spotlight quizzing her on things like the children’s books at her daughter’s school. Yeah. Observers have noted that Ketanji Brown Jackson is, in fact, more qualified for the court position than many of the current members, and the grilling she has experienced has racist undertones. With this as our jumping-off point, let’s use sociology to examine issues associated with race and racism.
Even though historically people thought that race was biological, today we know that it is, in fact, a social construct. Specifically, race is a socially constructed category of people based on real or perceived physical differences. On the other hand, ethnicity consists of social and cultural characteristics that set apart one group of people from another. These key terms are often used interchangeably, with the assumption that people of a certain “race” must have cultural characteristics associated with people who look like they look. Any level of observation demonstrates this is not an absolute truth. For example, Miss Ireland 2021, Pamela Uba, was born in South Africa, moved to Ireland when she was eight, and identifies with Irish culture. Similar examples can be found around the world and even in your own community. This highlights the fact that a true understanding of the human experience must acknowledge its diversity, the recognition and respect of the different attributes of races and ethnicities.
People often make assumptions about others based on consciously held attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes or implicit bias. This is true whether you are a minority college student and people assume you are an athlete on scholarship or a Supreme Court nominee and Senators assume you have a race-based agenda. From a sociological perspective, implicit bias is the first cousin of prejudice, a preconceived judgment or opinion of other people and races that leads to preferring one kind of person over another, and the grandchild of racism, the belief that one race is superior to others, resulting in unequal or demoralizing treatment of other races. While people often have varying beliefs and attitudes toward those they perceive as different, it is when these beliefs and attitudes manifest as unfair or differential treatment of individuals and groups based on race and ethnicity that we find discrimination. As pointed out by many online observers, the Senate’s concerning treatment of Judge Jackson is just another example of the egregious behavior experienced by minorities who have gone before her.
One would think that in a country with as much diversity as the United States, racist undertones and microaggressions, indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group, would be outdated in the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, governing bodies such as the Senate have historically been bastions of white privilege, with members having an invisible package of unearned assets at their disposal. How can society improve so that the daughters and granddaughters of Judge Jackson are treated with the gravitas people of her qualification deserve? To be sure, it won’t be by focusing on people’s origin, the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s ancestors before their arrival in the United States. Instead, we should focus on the benefits of our pluralism by maintaining social equality and distinct cultural characteristics within and among races and ethnicities. By doing so, we just might find that we can coexist in such a way that everyone has a chance at fulfilling their dream as a teacher, doctor, or even Supreme Court judge.
