This week saw the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate hold hearings on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court if confirmed by a majority of senators. Given Republicans’ general policy of obstructing President Joe Biden‘s agenda and the fake outrage over Biden intentionally nominating a Black woman, these hearings were expected to be contentious.

Still, no one quite anticipated the utter mess that was on display. Republicans’ racist, sexist and belittling attacks demonstrated a lot about the current GOP, while Jackson’s collected and dignified responses spoke to her character and qualifications as a soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice. As Jackson gets one step closer to that goal, here are six important takeaways from this week’s hearings.

Jackson is more than prepared to be a Supreme Court justice.

We already knew that Jackson would make a fantastic addition to the Supreme Court. Her résumé is impeccable, including a wealth of judicial experience — as a federal appeals judge, federal trial judge, public defender and clerk to the justice she is set to replace — that puts many of the current justices to shame. This week, Jackson took the opportunity to cement her nomination by describing how she makes decisions as a judge.

Rather than placing her judging practices into a legal framework, such as treating the Constitution as a living document or attempting to figure out the original intent of the Constitution’s writers, Jackson instead described the three-step methodology she has developed to make sure that her rulings in every case are fair and neutral and that she stays in her lane as a judge and not a policymaker.

Such attention to detail and fairness speaks well to Jackson’s ability to decide the most difficult legal cases that the country will face.

The Republican Party unleashed their questions on Jackson.

Instead of engaging in honest discussions with Jackson about her record as a judge, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas used some of his time to reminisce about the 1950s. He, along with Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, also tried to paint that Jackson was soft on crime, particularly with cases of child pornography. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas attempted to tie Jackson to critical race theory for little clear reason beyond the fact that Jackson is a Black judge.

Beyond being a gross misrepresentation of her record, such accusations are also dog-whistles to the racists and Q-Anon conspiracy theorists who currently make up significant segments of the GOP base. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina went on a series of unhinged tirades that included bizarrely quizzing Jackson about her religious beliefs, wishing for the death of Guantanamo detainees and storming off in anger during the hearing.

Jackson knew not to take the bait.

As Blavity previously reported, Jackson’s calm demeanor in the face of all this inanity has already spawned multiple memes, with Black folks on social media and particularly Black women recognizing the all too familiar necessity of having to appear calm and collected in the face of unfair criticism coming from less-qualified white men. No doubt aware that her opponents would be eager to label her an “angry Black woman,” Jackson responded to the Republicans’ inane questions — such as the baseless accusations that she was soft on purveyors of child pornography — with calm, rational answers. More accurately, she answered calmly to the extent that she was allowed to respond at all before being interrupted by angry white men. Repeating her mantra that she knows how to “stay in [her] lane” when asked about policy questions that are outside the power of judges to control, Jackson even politely reminded the senators that they were asking her how to do their job, not hers, as making laws such as sentencing standards is the role of Congress.

It matters how we talk about the disrespect demonstrated against Black women.

The outrage that many had at the badgering and belittling of Jackson was matched by anger at media outlets for using overly neutral language to describe these tirades, thus downplaying the nature of the disrespect hurled against the nominee. Calling out C-SPAN’s labeling of a “heated exchange” between Jackson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund President Emeritus Sherrilyn Ifill corrected the news outlet. “It’s not a heated exchange, because only one of the parties is heated,” Ifill tweeted.

Twitter user Lynn V likewise took issue with reports that talked about “fiery moments & tense exchanges” during the hearing, countering that the comments coming from Republicans were instead “the worst of misogynoir from mediocre White right wing folk.”

Having more women in government is important.

As might be expected, it took the relatively few women and people of color on the committee to really “see” Jackson. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota reminded her colleagues in opening statements that Jackson has more experience than nearly half of the justices currently on the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii demolished the fake outrage of her GOP colleagues about Jackson’s sentencing practices in child pornography cases, listing multiple federal judges who practiced similar sentencing practices but who were confirmed with votes from these same Republican senators.

In oppressive white spaces, people of color are often the ones who really "see" each other.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker produced a highlight of the hearings by recognizing Jackson’s amazing career and the historic nature of her nomination. He noted the excitement that ordinary people have been expressing to him through calls and texts concerning Jackson’s nomination, declaring that “nobody’s going to steal that joy.” Affirming Jackson’s qualifications after a long day of unfair attacks, Booker told the nominee “you have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.” As Jackson finally let go of tears as she listened to Booker’s words toward the end of her final day of hearings, Booker reassured her in regard to the unwarranted criticisms she has faced. “Don’t worry, my sister,” the New Jersey senator said. “God has got you.”

Sen. Alex Padilla of California discussed how one of his teachers discouraged him from applying to MIT, echoing the experiences of many people of color who have our ambitions questioned. He then gave Jackson the space to tell stories from her own time as a student at Harvard, including the challenges and feelings of being out of place, as well as a random encounter with a Black woman in Harvard Yard, who encouraged Jackson to “persevere,” the same encouragement that Jackson now gives to young people pursuing their dreams. The moment again drew tears from Jackson.

Now that Jackson has persevered against the worst of the Republican Party, she is now steps away from becoming the first Black woman to join the Supreme Court. Her nomination is expected to be approved by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, moving her nomination to the full Senate, which could vote on the nomination in early April.

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