Black Women Protest Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Nomination

Black Women Protest Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Nomination

By Ryan Velez

      Essence reports that in a series of protest over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Black women were out in force over concern that this could tip the balance of the highest court in the land to the far right.

“The stakes could not be higher,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) in a statement. “Our voting rights are on the line. Fair housing and affirmative action are on the line. The right to choose and access to healthcare are on the line. And our most highly valued democratic principles, such as equal justice and opportunity, are on the line.” Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), made a statement to Essence as well. She said that the move “will shift the balance of the Court and could roll back rights for an entire generation.” This references reproductive rights and equality laws that could be impacted. Another major concern is the fact that Kavanaugh has come out and said that a sitting president should not be subject to investigation.

In our initial coverage of Kavanaugh’s nomination, we mentioned some other initial impressions, including from the NAACP.

“Brett Kavanaugh is a dangerous ideologue whose extreme views on civil rights would solidify a far-right majority on the Supreme Court,” the civil rights group said in a statement. “Coming after Neil Gorsuch’s appointment, a Kavanaugh confirmation would re-make the Court in President Trump’s own image. This prospect is unacceptable to the American people, and the NAACP is ready to lead the fight of a generation.”

The statement continued: “The NAACP knows Judge Kavanaugh well. We opposed his confirmation to the D.C. Circuit for good reason.  In his 12 years on the bench, he has proven us correct. He has been a strong and consistent voice for the wealthy and the powerful. Over and over again, he has ruled against civil rights, workers’ rights, consumer rights, and women’s rights.”

Other names that spoke out against them include Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who tweeted, “Over the course of his career Judge Kavanaugh has used the bench to undermine worker rights, threaten access to healthcare, block efforts to curb gun violence and advance one conservative cause after another. Senate should reject. #SCOTUS”