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It looks like Elena Kagan is going to be our next Supreme Court justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently approved Kagan's nomination which nearly puts her on the court. Only one Republican on the committee joined with Democrats to support her nomination, reminding us of the polarization among elected officials that has occurred during the Obama presidency.
The vote was 13-6, all but ensuring that Kagan will be the person to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired earlier this year.
President Obama applauded the committee's vote. According to the Associated Press, Obama hailed it as a "bipartisan affirmation of her strong performance" in confirmation hearings and said Kagan would be "a fair and impartial" justice.
A few more Republicans are likely to start backing Kagan when she goes before the full Senate. The Democrats have enough votes to confirm her on their own if necessary. Most Republicans argue that Kagan puts her political views over respecting the law. They claim that she has a liberal agenda on abortion and gun rights and many have criticized her decision as dean of Harvard Law School to ban the military from recruiting on campus. She made the ban in large part because of military policies against openly gay soldiers.
I've never seen any reason to be excited about Kagan for the Supreme Court. In fact, she represents a step backward for our country. During her tenure at Harvard, she never granted tenure to or hired any black or brown person who applied for a tenure-track position with the law school. She also didn't hire any black or brown people during her time as solicitor general of the United States.
This communicates that she clearly has almost no interest in promoting advancement for minorities in the workplace. With black unemployment nearly double that of whites, we can all point to individuals like Kagan for being the reason that black people of all educational levels are denied the opportunities they deserve. Racial discrimination in the workplace will only be strengthened during the Kagan regime on the Supreme Court.
Another problematic aspect of the Kagan nomination is that with her confirmation, the Supreme Court will be dominated by Ivy Leaguers, with nearly every justice except one graduating from either Harvard or Yale law school. Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the one justice who graduated from Columbia, attended Harvard for a year before transferring.
With the help of our first black president, we've now achieved the goal of officially turning our Supreme Court and presidency into an aristocracy. No matter how brilliant or hard working you are, the fact that you never attended Harvard or Yale means that you will never get the same opportunities as incompetent individuals like George W. Bush. All of the qualified black female attorneys and judges who made themselves available for Kagan's nomination know this all too well.
The nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court is a small step for our government, but a giant (and backward) step for our country. It is incredibly disappointing and gives even more reason to lack faith in our elected officials.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. 
Comments: (18)
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By: Kalynn on 7/21/2010 2:22PM
Boyce, for once I agree with you. I am not into this, Afrian American, MONOLITHIC, "group think." We all don't look alike, so why should we all automatically think alike? Sister Speak Has Spoken
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By: Sheila on 7/21/2010 2:20PM
F**k Obama' damn sellout!
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By: alie on 7/21/2010 3:19PM
If she is elected he will not be re-elected and he loses all crediability within the black community, damn sell out!!!! & Anti-Christ
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By: alie on 7/21/2010 3:30PM
No judge experience, keep pampering to the gay agenda Mr Obama Anti-Christ!
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By: mswll4 on 7/21/2010 4:07PM
What wrong DR BOWAT. The president did not picked a COLORED LADY or a lady from [HBLC OR HBLU]
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By: S on 7/21/2010 3:57PM
Honestly, I am just wondering if black people expect President Obama to hire a black person in every vacant position? And for those who oppose Kagan because of her skin color or sexuality then you are no better than a racist who refused to hire minorities.
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By: Kimberly on 7/21/2010 8:43PM
S, no I do not believe that Blacks expect Pres. Obama to appoint all Black people, but darn I expect him to select some. And no I'm not oppose to Elena Kagan because of her race. I'm oppose to her for her lack of hiring African American faculty at Harvard & not hiring any African Americans when she was the solicitor general. Your actions speak way louder than your words and her actions are speaking very loudly. I think Dr. Watson is right on the money with this one. There is something there given that she has been in two high profile positions and hired no AAs. That speaks volumes to me.
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By: S on 7/22/2010 1:12AM
Kimberly,
Well I do believe that black people expect President Obama to hire a black person in every vacant position. I always hear black people complain if he didn't hire a black person and it is annoying. President Obama selected Eric H. Holder, a black man, as the Attorney General of the United States. In addition to Holder, the list of the black appointments include: Valerie Jarrett to be his White House senior advisor, Melody Barnes to lead his Domestic Policy Council, Patrick Gaspard to be his political director, Desirée Rogers as the White House Social Secretary, Susan Rice who is the US Ambassador to the UN, Cassandra Butts who is the Deputy White House Counsel and Rob Nabors who was formerly the Deputy OMB Director but now is the senior advisor to Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Now I just gave you a whole list of President Obama black appointments. So maybe you need to rethink your comment on Obama needing to hire some black people.
The overall demographic of people he has hired ranges from blacks, Hispanic, women, Jews, whites, a transexual,and now a suspected lesbian. I think this is what Dr. Martin Luther King was trying to convey when he stated, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
A Supreme Court Justice is hired based upon the President's political views and how the justice will interpret the Constitution. President Obama is a liberal, so he is going to nominate someone who views aligns with his. I do not know Kagan that well. But I think the most impressive aspect of Kagan is that she clerked for the Honorable Thurgood Marshall. Kagan has high admiration for Mr. Marshall and attributes him to a lot of her success. Thurgood Marshall had liberal views and was instrumental in desegregating schools and catapulted the civil rights movement. Therefore, I truly doubt that Kagan will discriminate on black people when she studied under one of the most prominent black leaders in America's history.
Now if you want to question Obama's nomination on Kagan, I think the best argument is why he chose someone with no judge experience rather than him why he did not not choose a black person.
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By: sanford on 7/22/2010 9:27AM
@S you have made some excellent points that most do not consider because they are listening to Dr. Boyce try to convince them that Obama does not favor Blacks as he thinks he should.
As far as all those folks who call Obama that "Anti Christ" how are you different from those Tea Party members and the racists folks who post on here 24/7???
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By: S on 7/22/2010 12:26PM
Sanford,
I am different because I am not racist. I try to approach situations in a rational manner and not allow emotions to control my political thoughts. I openly supports President Obama. I respect his decisions even if I may not agree or understand every decision of his.
I think there is a segment of white and black people who put Obama in a compromising position. There is a segment of white people who claims Obama caters towards the blacks and is racist. And when he was nominated or if he nominates a minority, people may disregard qualifications and automatically assume the minority was hired because of affirmative action. This makes me think if people will ever realize that minorities are just as intelligent, hardworking, and qualified as others. And as far as black people, there is a segment that view Obama as the President of the NAACP oppose to be President of the US and a global leader. President Obama should not only cater towards the needs of a particular race. Granted there are issues that disproportionately affects minorities or lower class Americans such as poverty, poor public schools, high unemployment rates and unfair prison sentencing but it takes more than having a black president to fight these issues. People should find out ways within themselves to overcome their situation. More pressure should be put on both the State and Federal Government to improve those disparities.
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