How to Avoid the ‘Affirmative Action’ Ploy
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC Studios
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2022
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Biden’s vow to finally appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court has ignited a debate before a nomination has even materialized. How do you fight for representation, without getting stuck in the tired old debate over “affirmative action?” Hear reactions from President and CEO of the National Women's Law Center Fatima Goss Graves, Court scholar Elie Mystal, and listeners.
Companion listening for this episode:
A Court On The Edge (9/21/2020)
After the passing of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the long sought a stable conservative majority in the Supreme Court became a reality - but not without a fight. WNYC's Jami Floyd (Senior Editor for Race and Justice) and Elie Mystal (Justice Correspondent at The Nation) joined us to set the scene for the battle over the Supreme Court and what a vacancy on the bench of the highest court in the nation represents for Election 2020 and our collective future.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Supreme Court justices, your thoughts on that. |
| 0:05.6 | When asked about President Biden's vow to nominate a black woman to the high court, Mississippi |
| 0:10.0 | Senator Roger Wicker had this to say. |
| 0:12.4 | We're going to go from a nice, stately, left-wing liberal to someone who's probably more in the |
| 0:23.9 | style of Sonia so to New York. |
| 0:28.1 | Nice and stately to a woman of color, and that's not even the part that got the good |
| 0:32.6 | Senator in trouble. |
| 0:33.6 | He went on to call the as-yet unnamed nominee an affirmative action hire. |
| 0:38.7 | Strap yourselves in folks because this whole nomination process is going to be a lot. |
| 0:52.1 | It's Black History Month, and Joe Biden has made the commitment to nominate a black woman |
| 0:57.0 | to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court. |
| 1:00.1 | Have you heard that news? |
| 1:01.1 | I haven't heard that, actually, this is my first time hearing about it. |
| 1:04.4 | What would it mean for you to have a black woman on the Supreme Court? |
| 1:08.0 | It would mean a lot in terms of representation. |
| 1:10.0 | I think it's definitely important for representation in the Supreme Court, especially in a place |
| 1:14.6 | where justice isn't really served for minorities, and I guess I'm excited to see where that |
| 1:20.4 | goes. |
| 1:21.4 | I think it's about time that a black woman's on the Supreme Court. |
| 1:25.0 | However, I'm not going to say that I agree with Joe Biden's announcing it, he could |
| 1:29.2 | be said to be the affirmative action appointment, or something which would kind of diminish |
| 1:35.2 | her effectiveness. |
... |
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