Opinion |

With Jackson pick, Supreme Court looks more like America

Men 5. Women 4.

SCOTUS scorekeepers will recognize right away that I’m referring to the gender split, now that Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed as our next Supreme Court justice. (SCOTUS stands for Supreme Court of the United States.)

When Jackson is sworn in this summer — following the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer — she will be the eighth justice in the court’s 233-year history who is not a White man.

Following her confirmation, Jackson said, “I strongly believe that this is a moment in which all Americans can take great pride. We have come a long way toward perfecting our union. In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.”

While race was hugely important in President Joe Biden’s decision to nominate Jackson — and adds to the historical significance of her confirmation, given that only two Black people (both men) have been named to the bench — her gender is equally significant in our majority-female country.

Just five women — Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett — have served on the Supreme Court, ever. Scorekeepers know: That’s a measly 4 percent of the total number of appointed justices.

Jackson has checked many of the same boxes on her career path as her future colleagues: Harvard Law School, Supreme Court clerk, federal appeals judge. Like Sotomayor, she served as a district court judge; uniquely, she was also a federal public defender, providing legal representation on behalf of poor people.

Still, Jackson’s confirmation hearing was littered with low blows. Some senators voiced concerns about Jackson’s sentencing record — which they considered to be too lenient — and the types of people she’s defended. One senator imagined (out loud) that Jackson would defend Nazis.

Somehow, for me, their questioning was offset by a single poignant moment, captured by New York Times photographer Sarabeth Maney. She snapped a picture of Jackson’s teenage daughter, Leila, who was seated behind her mother, beaming. Her pride was palpable.

If it took Jackson “just one generation” to go from segregation to the Supreme Court, I wonder: Could we be close to a time when the appointment of a justice — who happens to be a mom — isn’t thought to be so momentous?

It seems likely, given the preeminence of women in our educational institutions. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, nearly 60 percent of students at universities and colleges today are female; just over 40 percent are male. Fifty years ago, the gender proportions were reversed. In law schools, women make up almost 55 percent of students, a trend that began in 2016.

And at every level, beginning in high school, women are graduating at higher rates than men. Teachers say that female students are more engaged, coming to class prepared and eager to learn. Seventy percent of high school valedictorians are girls.

As someone who benefited from a system that has long favored White males, I cheer the advances for women. And I look forward to the day when appointments to the Supreme Court are gender blind.

But as a society, we have to avoid overcorrection. This can’t become a zero-sum game. And frankly, I worry about our boys and men. Bestselling author and business professor Scott Galloway wrote a brilliant piece on this very topic in his newsletter last fall called “A Few(er) Good Men.”

Galloway drew a line directly from educational attainment to marriage rates, which have been declining here for decades. He noted that the sharpest decline has been among men in the lowest earning quartile (35 percent), a phenomenon that has both economic and societal implications.

Galloway said, “A large and growing cohort of bored, lonely, poorly educated men is a malevolent force in any society, but it’s a truly terrifying one in a society addicted to social media and awash in coarseness and guns. Increased frustration about their lack of life choices and greater jealousy stoked by the images of success they see on their screens will push underachieving men further toward conspiracy theories and radicalization.” He cited this proof point: Of the people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, 86 percent are men.

The opportunity conferred on Ketanji Brown Jackson, as a woman and person of color is an important step forward. Her history-making appointment as our next Supreme Court justice should be celebrated by all.

However, we must do more, for the good of our country. We can’t keep our boys on the sidelines. It’s even more important to our future than settling the score.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com