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Activist warns Left, Trump might pick first black female justice: 'Be careful what you wish for'

In the past, Joe Biden has said he would consider nominating a black female to the highest court in the land

Published: September 21, 2020 4:27pm

Updated: September 22, 2020 9:59am

An activist group formally launched the "She Will Rise" campaign Monday to call for an African American female judge to be nominated to the Supreme Court.

A supporter of the progressive group, Nikole Hannah-Jones, who authored The New York Times' 1619 Project, warned that President Trump might be the president who picks the first black female justice following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"I think this is a case of be careful what you wish for because it's certainly possible that Trump could appoint a black woman but it's also very possible it could be just as cynical as it was when the second black Supreme Court justice became Clarence Thomas," she said during a discussion organized by the nonprofit advocacy group Demand Justice. 

"You can certainly find a black woman who is extremely conservative; who is a strict constructionist; who is going to align with the most conservative people on the court and that again will be a hollow victory. In some ways, again, that is a very cynical choice because it puts black people in the position of having to argue against the first black woman to go on the bench because the first black woman is not someone who we feel will actually serve our communities well so yeah, that's possible," she also said.

Trump said this past weekend that he would nominate a female to fill Ginsburg's seat.

Some African American male judges appear on Trump's public shortlist of potential Supreme Court nominee, but there are currently no African American female judges included. A hispanic female and male judge are on his list. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, hasn't released a Supreme Court nomination shortlist yet but indicated that an African American female would be considered.

Demand Justice has published a list of potential Supreme Court justices who illustrate "the breadth of progressive talent available to a president committed to nominating a diverse group of justices who have spent their careers fighting to uphold the values of equal justice under the law."

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