“We believe it’s important that black women applaud the president for clearly speaking out on this promise he made during the campaign and put up a marker that says, ‘This woman, we’ll have her back,'” one Senior Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Karen Finney, who helped craft the letter, told CNN in an interview. “It’s also an expression of happiness.”
The letter commended Biden for “leading to this moment in history with his best America vision and ensuring that the leadership of our democracy reflects the diversity of experiences lived at the highest levels.”
“Nominating a black woman with the necessary compassion, a sense of justice, and a brilliant legal mind will balance the integrity of the Supreme Court that ensures that the court is more representative of all Americans,” the letter said.
Biden committed to the historic nomination on Thursday, fulfilling a campaign promise he first made in South Carolina, tapping into a state where black women voters make up a substantial portion of the electorate. The pledge helped her garner notable support in the state, propelling her to victory, but also recognized the wishes of black women political leaders whose power was skyrocketing and demanded an answer like the Democratic Party. .
“The person I nominate will be a person of exceptional ability, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first black woman nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Biden said Thursday. “I think it is long overdue. I made this commitment during the presidential campaign and I will keep that commitment.”
Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, who helped lead the crafting of the letter, thanked Biden during an interview with CNN that she said “that doesn’t happen too often with politicians.”
“In 233 years, there has never been one,” Campbell said of a black woman Supreme Court justice. “It means that that lived experience of black women was never represented in that court.”
Now that her representation has become a real possibility, she and a coalition of influential black women—including prominent political figures and friends of Biden—have a role in persuading the president to choose a black woman, both privately and publicly. external role. As their Vice President – we are preparing ourselves for the times ahead.
Campbell said the letter is meant to elevate the names of black women who are considered on Biden’s shortlist of potential nominees, which may have circulated to Washington well before Justice Stephen Breuer’s retirement plans became public. Were were
The nomination will provide the nation with another example of a black female leader. The country currently has no black governors or black female senators, despite the unprecedented election of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“He has exemplary academic background, judicial background, isn’t that all you need?” Campbell asked.
Preparing for the attack, black women leaders are trying to set the terms of what will and will not be tolerated. The goal, Brown said, is to uplift the character and abilities of women.
“The baseline is a highly qualified black woman. We’ve been in this game long enough, we’ve been in this country for a long time, that we always present our best,” Latosha Brown, co-founder of Georgia-based Black Voters Matter, told CNN Told to. “We are not going to engage in this conversation to prove that we are worthy. It is a distraction. ,
‘Black women are controlling the narrative’
The event is taking place over video calls and phone calls between black women and other stakeholders, those involved in the preparation told CNN. The information is being distributed along with the background of the potential candidate, acting as an education campaign for the women and men willing to come to the aid of the nominee if necessary.
“Strategically, we know (Republicans) are going to throw everything at him and make it ugly,” a source familiar with the Democrats’ thinking told CNN. They watch the Republicans’ playbook to invalidate the final nominee to be made in real time.
And this is why a black woman Supreme Court justice is necessary, he says, because race and gender have yet to be fully dealt with in this country.
“At this moment, black women are controlling the narrative about who we are as leaders in this country, what we feel is lived experience, the expertise we bring to the table,” Finn said. .
The women say they have learned from moments in history where black women were up for the nomination and went through difficult confirmation processes, such as Loretta Lynch, when she was nominated as attorney general by former Barack Obama in 2014. Or Lani Guinier, whose nomination for assistant attorney general was withdrawn by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 after conservatives launched an abusive campaign against him. And even last year Kristen Clarke was nominated for the same position as Guinier.
Donna Brazile, a veteran Democratic political strategist who advocated for Biden to elect Harris as vice president, said the focus should remain on what’s really important to an appellate judge.
“The focus should be on his judicial nature. Judges take oath of office, take oath to be impartial. And like other public servants, they take the oath of the Constitution. Any other conversation is what I call political drama,” Brazil told CNN.
As next week, the White House prepares to reach out and potentially begin meeting with potential candidates, a move to highlight what the president has said will be a “rigorous” process that is “one of the most serious constitutional responsibilities”. “Will be considered. President”
Biden has vowed to announce his candidate by the end of February, just as Breyer has said he will step down at the end of the term. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised speedy confirmation hearings, something Republicans have already indicated they want to slow down.
On top of them, black women leaders will see that this doesn’t happen.
“We are urging the US Senate to fulfill its constitutional responsibility by conducting a speedy hearing and bringing your candidate to the floor for a confirmation vote, once announced,” the letter to Biden said. “
“They say the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice, but it doesn’t bend by itself, right?” Terry Sewell, Alabama’s first black woman elected to Congress, a lawyer and former clerk for Alabama’s first black federal judge, told CNN in an interview.
Sewell said he is sure that all black members of Congress “will be highly vested in ensuring that the nominee gets a fair trial and that the nominee is not tarnished in the process.”
CNN’s MJ Lee and Ariane de Vogue contributed to this report.