Ketanji Brown Jackson was just confirmed as the 116th Supreme Court justice in US history! 108 of the 115 who that preceded her were white men. She is the first black woman to sit on the highest court in the land. This long overdue step towards a government that more closely reflects the population it represents makes me proud to be an American!
For almost 200 years every Supreme Court Justice was male. It wasn’t until 1981 when Reagan finally appointed the first female Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. It is still so wild to me that I WAS ALIVE when our country hadn’t even appointed a female to sit on the Supreme Court. And we STILL haven’t elected a woman as president! As a country that is supposed to be about equality, we still have a ways to go.
I’m a white dude myself, so I can only speak from my perspective, but I like to imagine what if the genders and races were flipped? What if 108 of the first 115 supreme court justices were black women? Year after year, decade after decade, century after century only black women got to rule on the most important court cases in the country. And what if during that time there were massive racial and gender income and net worth gaps, leaving white people, especially men poorer. Would I suspect those things were related? Would I want someone who looked like me and maybe could better represent my experiences on the court? Yeah. I would. Well, that’s exactly what’s going on, except flipped.
As for the confirmation process, I miss the days when the court was apolitical. Three of Reagan’s five nominees were confirmed by the Senate unanimously. But today the confirmation process is a political circus. It’s disappointing and I hope we can elect senators who respect the non-partisan nature of the court in the future. But for Brown Jackson’s part, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person as experienced, smart, and composed under that kind of pressure.
So congratulations to the US for finally making this long overdue step and for adding another fantastic Justice to the court!
As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.
-Jeremy
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