A Black Woman As Vice President Would Be Dope, But a Black Woman on the Supreme Court Would Be Even Better

Yesterday marked the 100 days until election day, and while many are still waiting for the Democratic Presidential Candidate, Joe Biden, to announce his vice president. I’m just hoping that all of our Supreme Court justices hold on until the current president is out of office. 

Since the announcement of Biden as the Democratic candidate, there has been a huge call for him to choose a Black woman as his running mate. At the top of most folks lists are Sen. Kamala Harris, former GA minority leader Stacey Abrams, and there’s even some buzz that, Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms should be considered. 

I know that many are arguing that it is high time we not only had a woman as vice president, but also that Black women are owed this spot. Black women are always the ones at the front lines when it comes to fighting for equality for all and this is a great way to show the Black community that Biden appreciates our hard work. 

And while I agree with all these sentiments, I really want to see a Black woman as more than second in command because if I’m honest sometimes it feels like the Vice President is a political hype person. Before yall jump down my throat, I know we need them when it’s time to break a tie in Congress, but that hasn’t happened much in recent history when it comes to Democratic Vice Presidents. And yes we know that Black women are great at getting people to work together which is another major role of the Vice Presidency when it comes to Congress. And I do agree that the Vice Presidency can be a stepping stone for the office of President. However, I think right now instead of focusing on demanding that Biden choose a Black woman as his vice presidential running mate that we demand he put Black women in guaranteed positions of power. 

We want a guarantee that we will get a Black woman on the Supreme Court. It’s high time we put Black women in one of the most powerful positions our country has to offer because we need Black women at the helm of decision making for more than 4 (or 8) years. Since the Supreme Court is a lifetime commitment, I want Black women fighting for me for that long just like they always have. 

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen that the Supreme Court is the one branch of government that is still operating as it was intended. But let’s face it, we know that if we want to keep a woman’s right to choose, continue to make segregation illegal, protect the Dreamers, and more, then we really need to make sure our next president stacks the Supreme Court with judges who will make those choices. And my vote is definitely that we finally give Black women the power to protect this country from patriarchy and white supremacy.  

Possible Black women to consider for the Supreme Court? We can start with Lia Epperson and Melissa Murray. 

Lia Epperson is a Civil Rights lawyer and a law professor at American University Washington College of Law. Her areas of expertise are federal courts and educational policies that focus on race. Epperson has written tons of articles and essays for books, her most recent entitled “Racial Discrimination” in Education The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion. Before becoming a law professor, Epperson served as director for the education law and policy group of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund (LDF). During her tenure with the LDF, she advocated for federal administrative and legislative reforms, and co-authored multiple amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court in the areas of education and affirmative action. 

Melissa Murray is an expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice. Her research focuses on the legal regulation of sex and sexuality and includes topics like marriage and its alternative, the marriage equality debate, the legal recognition of caregiving, and reproductive rights and justice. Murray is a professor of law at NYU Law School. Before joining the NYU faculty,she was on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She also served as interim dean of the Berkley Law school from March 2016 to June 2017. Murray has published articles in the California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and more. She is the author of Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice, which is the first casebook to cover the field of reproductive rights and justice. 

I don’t know about you but I’d love to see both of these women on the Supreme Court in the future as our current justices move to retirement. 

So, Vice President Biden give us a Black woman as your Vice President but also I want you to promise that we’ll see a Black woman on the Supreme Court holding future administrations accountable for a lifetime. 

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