Yes, it matters that Joe Biden is nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

What it says about representation, tokenization, and identity politics in America.

There has never, in the history of our country, been a Black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States. Joe Biden has committed to rectifying that. But critics on the right and left have decried the president’s commitment to undoing this wrong. 

Ted Cruz called the choice “offensive.” Roger Wicker, the Republican senator from Mississippi, said the next justice would be a “quota.” And Tulsi Gabbard, the right’s favorite self-proclaimed leftist, tweeted “identity politics is destroying our country.” 

Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard

Biden chose Harris as his VP because of the color of her skin and sex—not qualification. She's been a disaster. Now he promises to choose Supreme Court nominee on the same criteria. Identity politics is destroying our country.

Nominating a Black woman to the highest court in the land isn’t simply about “identity politics,” but it does offer us a unique lens through which to understand it.

Haters actually do hate.

Let’s begin by dismantling the absurd argument that the appointment of the first Black woman to the court is somehow “offensive.”