Opinion: The hearing shows the treatment and degradation of Black women in professional settings

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In the last few weeks, our country has begun the process of confirmation hearings that will decide on nominee Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson’s future on the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson is vastly experienced, even potentially overqualified in comparison to some of the more questionable recent additions to the bench. And, despite a man who was too blackout drunk to remember if he sexually assaulted someone being confirmed just three years back, Judge Jackson is facing resistance in this process. 
The most important aspect of Jackson’s candidacy is that if confirmed she would also be the first Black woman to serve on the highest court of law in our nation. And, while we all watched the same events unfold, Black women saw something all too familiar in the events that have occurred during Jackson’s hearing. 
From both the media and the Senate in questioning, Jackson’s accolades and qualifications have been repeatedly called into question. Fox News host Tucker Carlson went on a tirade against Judge Jackson during his nightly show, asking “so is Ketanji Brown Jackson – a name that even Joe Biden has trouble pronouncing – one of the top legal minds in the entire country? It might be time for Joe Biden to let us know what Ketanji Brown Jackson’s LSAT score was. How did she do on the LSATs?” Similarly, during the Senate portion of Jackson’s hearings, senator Ted Cruz brought up the unrelated work of another Black scholar in an attempt to provoke the judge into an off-topic debate on critical race theory. 
All Black women recognized these microaggressions in the professional field. Cruz’s attempts at goading Jackson into a racialized discussion and Carlson’s remarks were undoubtedly rooted in the fact that Judge Jackson is Black. When Justice Amy Coney Barret was confirmed just a year prior, her LSAT scores and identity-based beliefs were not questioned. 
This isn’t to say that all women don’t face barriers in the workplace, but with intersecting identities, Black women are always at the receiving end of this discrimination.  
The NAACP, one of the highest regarded Black organizations in this country, even released a statement on the mistreatment Judge Jackson faced from the Senate in last week’s hearings. 

“They were rude and hostile… speaking to her as if she were a child, a criminal suspect, or a sworn enemy. While this blatant display of disrespect and racism toward a highly-qualified Black woman was, unfortunately, not surprising, it was nonetheless shocking and disheartening.” 

This lack of surprise is the key problem; even at the highest level of government and the law, we were not shocked that a Black woman with a long list of accolades was questioned and disrespected. The display shows the treatment and degradation of Black women in professional settings; their sense of belonging is always challenged no matter their qualifications. And while we are all happy for a Black woman to have this opportunity, it’s one thing to have a seat at the table but it’s another to not be questioned as to how you got there. 

Numerous aspects of today’s workforce attempt to paint Black women as unqualified and unwelcomed. The Crown Act, a law that prohibits discrimination based on hairstyle and hair texture in the workplace, is just now being passed in 2022. This means that before this year, companies could legally deem Black hairstyles as “unprofessional” in their offices. Additionally, for Black women in the workplace, receiving microaggressions that attack on their perceived lack of intellect as well as ignorant comments based upon stereotypes from coworkers isn’t an uncommon experience. 

So many Black women recognized the pained emotion in Judge Jackson’s face as she attempted to keep her composure under the unnecessary questioning and can recall a time at work they shared that feeling. If she lost composure, she would risk feeding into the “angry Black woman” stereotype or her professionalism would be even further scrutinized. 

On a day that was meant to be a celebration for Black women as Judge Jackson attempted to break through the glass ceiling, we were again reminded of the struggles we continue to face and how much more work we have to do.