Offering to support a woman for a coveted role because she is a woman, not because she is qualified, betrays the original feminist movement.
Last week, President Joe Biden announced he is committed to nominating the first black woman on the Supreme Court, regardless of whatever other qualified nominees exist. In doing so, Biden undermines the importance of the Supreme Court and actually hurts the causes of equality and women’s rights.
He said in his speech, “Our process is going to be rigorous … I’ve made no decision except one. The person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity, and that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
Biden’s decision is hypocritical and damaging on several fronts.
First, this promise contradicts the very origin of the women’s rights movement. In fact, it sets both career women and men up for failure down the road. The women who fought for the right to vote, a pivotal step toward equality, did so on the basis of the belief that women should be equal to men under the law. They didn’t want to be chosen or promoted because they were women. They simply wanted to have the same opportunities as men. That included voting and, eventually, applying for a credit card, working while pregnant, and more.
The Left would argue women still don’t enjoy total equality, but the law suggests otherwise. In fact, comments such as Biden’s suggest in some avenues of life, women are not just equal but also entitled. Biden’s commitment to hire a black woman simply because she is a black woman, not the best possible nominee for the Supreme Court, demonstrates this perfectly. The first wave of feminists wanted women to have equal rights and equal opportunities so they could be judged based on their merits. Biden, if he were a true champion of women’s rights, would have committed to the same.
Second, Biden has shown before he doesn’t actually support qualified, talented, black female jurists. As the Washington Post reported, “Biden warned President George W. Bush that if he nominated the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, he would filibuster and kill her nomination.” Biden made good on his promise and blocked the nomination of Judge Janice Rogers Brown for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Bush didn’t give up and nominated her again in 2005 — and she was eventually confirmed. Guess who voted against her a second time? Joe Biden.
Finally, even as Biden undermines the brave women who first fought for equality under the law, he also tarnishes the process of nominating a candidate to the Supreme Court. Nominating a person to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court for the next several decades is not a duty to be taken lightly and certainly not a time to play the affirmative action card. The most qualified attorneys should be considered and nominated regardless of race or sex, not because of it.
There are plenty of men and women of all races and creeds to choose from in this great country. If Biden and the Left really understood the feminist movement as it was originally intended, he would know this.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram opinion writer and previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
