Why are US rightwingers so opposed to a Black woman supreme court nominee?

[Jilly_in_VA]

Thomas Zimmer

When Joe Biden publicly pledged to nominate a Black woman to the US supreme court, conservative politicians, activists, and intellectuals certainly didn’t try to hide their disdain. The announcement was “offensive,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz argued, proof that the President didn’t care about 94% of Americans (everyone who is not a Black woman); and even though it’s unclear who the candidate will be, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker already knows he won’t support this affirmative action “beneficiary.” Tucker Carlson railed against Biden’s “casual racism,” and the conservative legal establishment also vowed to fight against this “lesser Black woman,” as Ilya Shapiro, the vice president of the Cato Institute, put it. Legal scholar Jonathan Turley, finally, bemoaned “exclusionary criteria of race and sex” – which apparently is a problem only if and when they result in the selection of someone who is *not* a white man. Let’s remember: 115 people have been appointed to the court in its 232-year existence – seven have not been white men. Seven.

This rather alarmed response tells us a lot about how the right views the political conflict, precisely because it is seemingly at odds with the fact that the conservative majority on the court is not in jeopardy. Any assessment of these reactions must start by recognizing their racist and sexist nature. They are revealing precisely because they were so reflexive, so visceral. Misogynoir – anti-Black misogyny - forms the basis of this conservative scorn.

But there is something else on display here too. A Black woman replacing Justice Breyer won’t change the court’s arithmetic. And yet, conservatives still feel threatened by Biden’s announcement because they understand it symbolizes the recognition that having white men dominate the powerful institutions of American life is a problem – and that rectifying this imbalance is an urgent task. They reject the notion that the country’s institutions should reflect the composition of the people; they know representation matters, and that a Black woman ascending to a position like this is also an acknowledgment of past injustice.

Conservatives see Biden’s announcement as an indication of how powerful the forces of liberalism, “wokeism,” and multiculturalism – those radically “Un-American” ideas that are threatening “real” (read: white Christian patriarchal) America – have already become. In this way, Biden’s pledge is perceived as yet more evidence that the Right is on the retreat. It is impossible to understand conservative politics in general without grappling with this pervasive siege mentality.

The fact that a reactionary majority will dominate the supreme court for a generation doesn’t do much to alleviate these fears. The Right doesn’t look at the Court in isolation, but considers the judiciary as part of an all-encompassing conflict over the fate of America. And conservatives understand clearly that this conflict isn’t confined to the political realm, but plays out in all areas of American life: it defines politics, society, culture – and in some of these spheres, conservatives are indeed losing.

The Right is reacting to something real: due to political, cultural, and demographic changes, the country has indeed become less white, less conservative, less Christian. The balance of political power doesn’t (yet) reflect that, as the US system has many undemocratic distortions and is deliberately set up in a way that disconnects these changing demographic and cultural realities from political power. But conservatives realize that their vision for American society has come under pressure.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/02/joe-biden-supreme-court-nominee-right-reaction-black-female-nominee

[Voltaire2]

1. Probably because she would be a black woman.

But that is just a guess.

[Budi]

12. Post of the day Winner

I mean, do they even have to write a lengthy editorial to explain the only possible answer?

Can they just say, 'because she's BLACK'

[RKP5637]

2. IMO, Real Americans per the US rightwingers are: White, Republican, Male, Christian and Conservative

[dchill]

3. It is bred into them: they're inbred.

[applegrove]

4. They don't want to change their bases hearts. Remember how they

did not attack Michelle Obama enough and she is still the most popular person in politics. And then 70% of Americans were for the George Floyd protests? Imagine if you had a black female justice on the left for 30 years siding with the people. How awful that would be.

[Lovie777]

13. Total bashing of Mrs. Obama . . ..

One was so dumb - regarding wearing sleeveless dresses. It was as bad as that tan suit.

Anywho, GQP are afraid of a qualified Black Women who is way smarter than they are.

[applegrove]

15. Well they did not effectively bash her because it only got her sympathy

for being such an authentic and very decent person (fun too).

[Marcuse]

5. What happened to "Good people on both sides"?

[Hoyt]

6. Crack up every time some white winger says they are racially discriminated against

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. They still haven't gotten over the freeing of the slaves.

[CrispyQ]

8. He summed it up perfectly right here:

...conservatives still feel threatened by Biden’s announcement because they understand it symbolizes the recognition that having white men dominate the powerful institutions of American life is a problem – and that rectifying this imbalance is an urgent task. They reject the notion that the country’s institutions should reflect the composition of the people; they know representation matters, and that a Black woman ascending to a position like this is also an acknowledgment of past injustice.

[Mike Nelson]

9. Hmm...

... because it won't be Candace Owens.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. They're just making noise in order to create

Leverage during the hearings.

[JustAnotherGen]

11. They don't like or respect us

Just a long shot guess . . . but in general - when you put it where the goats can get it?

The average Con has little regard for me.

The hate u give . . . and then folks wonder why I could care less if they live or die.

[Ferrets are Cool]

14. I can think of three reasons. Female, AA, Democrat.

Any of those will work for them, but all three?? We could only be so lucky if they all had aneurysms.