Am I the only one who finds it troublesome that of the three people widely reported as likely finalists for Justice John Paul Stevens’ soon-to-be vacant seat on the Supreme Court — all White, two of whom are women — there is not one African-American among the trio?
This is hard to understand, particularly since, as I wrote earlier, “never has there been a wider pool — and never will the time be riper — for the appointment of a progressive Black woman to the Supreme Court. Particularly since the Pew Research Center reports that ‘overall, among all racial, ethnic and gender groups, Black women had the highest voter turnout rate in November’s [2008] election [68.8 percent] — a first.’ This should yield real, bankable — and measurable— capital for a loyal and stalwart constituency.”
And where is the Black press on this story, that has by-and-large been absent on the question of the possibility of a Supreme Court nominee who relates to the plight of African-Americans?
One exception is Hazel Trice Edney, the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Washington correspondent. In her article, “Obama Should Consider First Black Woman for Supreme Court, Jurists Say,” Edney cites President Barack Obama’s former mentor and Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree, who says Black women should not be among the invisible.
“When you think about the success of Black women running universities, running corporations being involved as leaders in religion … you see that we have talents in every conceivable place. It doesn’t take rocket science to know that there are exceptionally qualified people,” Ogletree says.
Granted, there may be something of a dearth of potential Black female nominees in the 40-something ideal age range. There is, however, at least one notable exception: Cheryl D. Mills 45, counselor and chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is said to have been all set to nominate Mills for the High Court— had she been elected president. (Ironically enough, Hillary didn’t become president, largely, thanks to the Black female vote for Obama, including mine.)
In her role as associate counsel to President Bill Clinton, Mills attained national prominence for her stellar defense of the president during his impeachment trial, after which she was promoted to deputy White House Counsel and ultimately offered the job of White House Counsel, which she turned down to pursue corporate and academic opportunities. She has since served as senior vice president of corporate policy and public programming/general counsel for Oprah Winfrey’s Oxygen Media and, later, as chief operating officer for NYU.
