Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., spoke in favor of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate confirmation vote on April 7. He called Jackson’s nomination “a glass-shattering achievement for America.”
“Consider this moment in history. When the Supreme Court first met in this building, in February of 1802, there were 1 million slaves in this nation, a nation of 5 million people. This very building was built with the labor of enslaved people. And at the time the court met, neither Black Americans nor white women had a constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Women had no place in that first Supreme Court chamber, and Black women would only enter to clean it in the dark of the night,” Durbin said.
“… This confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court honors the history that has come before it. It honors the struggles of the past, of the men and women who waged them. And this confirmation draws America one step closer — one step — to healing our nation. One step closer to a more perfect union,” he added.
Jackson was nominated by President Joe Biden in February to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. If confirmed, Jackson will be the first Black woman on the high court.
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