Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson with her husband, Dr. Patrick Graves Jackson, and their younger daughter, Leila Jackson.
Sometimes Mixedness pops up where you least expect it.
Like February 25, 2022—which was a bittersweet milestone day for Black America.
The bitterness was the 10th anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s assassination—a commemoration of unhealed trauma to remind us that racism never takes a day off.
The sweetness was President Joe Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. My socials were filled with the jubilation of Blackfolks celebrating first, that President Biden kept his promise to name a Black woman to the SCOTUS, and second, that the Bold Soul Sistah he selected from his short list is unambiguously Black, with dark skin and locs. Why? Because optics matter. Always. And especially when it comes to Blackness in high places.
Of course she brings solid credentials. You might remember Jackson from that time in 2019 when she ruled against President Donald Trump. As Newsweek reports, “While a district judge in 2019, Jackson ruled that former White House counsel Don McGahn had to testify before Congress, famously writing that "presidents are not kings."
As the internet erupted with celebratory posts about Jackson’s Blackness, I saw a couple of references to her white husband, Patrick Jackson, a surgeon.
I noted her swirly marriage but my focus was elsewhere: celebrating that Biden did not choose Leondra R. Kruger, a Biracial woman who services on the California State Supreme Court.
Why didn’t I want Biden to choose Kruger?
Qualifications are not the issue. And I have absolutely nothing against her. After all, she’s Mixed like me. #BLEWISH like me. I knew a bit about her background because I’d researched it for a freelance writing assignment that would have run if she’d been selected.
But I did NOT want Biden to nominate her because there are places and times where Mixed-Black folks don’t need to be the Black choice.
Yeah I said it. Here’s why: After President Barack H. Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris have made history as the first Blacks in their positions, we Mixed-Black folks did NOT need another person in our category named to such a high and powerful gig in this land. Not now. Now is the time for a monoracial Black person to rep at that level. Bonus points if they’re dark-skinned. Because yes, that is the response that nonstop racism and colorism require.
Am I saying that Mixed-Black folks aren’t Black? Or Black enough?
I am not.
Am I advocating for Mixed-Black and monoracial Black folks to be pit against each other in every situation?
Nope, not at all.
What I am saying is that Mixed-Black folks are too often put (often by whitefolks) in positions to represent Blackness when a monoracial visually unambiguous person Black person is equally qualified, if not more so. And thanks to racism and colorism, these Blackfolks are often denied opportunities in favor of their Mixed / lighter-skinned counterparts. In politics. In entertainment. In all kinds of industries.
My point here is that we Mixed-Black folks absolutely MUST be sensitive to and cognizant of the ways that racism and colorism continually work to pit us against monoracial and darker-skinned Black people. That doesn’t challenge or disqualify us from identifying as Black or with Blackness. We can be Black enough in our lives and even in our work, but still able to recognize the dynamics at play that too often grant us entry or favor because we might be considered more palatable, more malleable, closer to whiteness. Even if that’s not how we roll, it can be how we’re seen, how we’re considered, and how we’re elevated to maintain the status quo of white supremacist domination. That dynamic absolutely DOES impact some of the options and opportunities that we’re offered. And the advantages that we’re afforded.
The catchphrase “representation matters” has layers. Levels. Nuances. We can’t act as if these situations are one-dimensional or one-size-fits-all. But we can assess them and decide where and when to take a stand. Or even privately express an opinion.
So as I was privately rejoicing Biden’s choice of Jackson, the chatter grew about her swirly marriage. Some asked whether a white spouse was a requirement for a Black person to ascend that high into the halls of power.
That’s a fair question. After all, Justice Clarence Thomas has a white wife, the famously right-wing Virginia. Justice Thurgood Marshall’s first wife—a Black woman named Vivian Burey—died in 1955. By the time he became a Justice, he was married to Cecelia Suyat, a Filipina woman. It seems that so far, no Supreme Court Justice of Color has had a Black spouse during their time on the Court.
BTW, The third person on Biden’s short list, Judge J. Michelle Childs, does have a Black husband, Floyd L. Angus, M.D.
Interesting? To some. Significant? Possibly. But not the point of this post.
Naturally with my hyper-focus on Mixed folks, my initial response to nominee Jackson’s husband’s race was to wonder if they had children. They do: daughters Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.
And just like that, Jackson is thrust onto the Mixed part of my radar screen. I was still celebrating her Blackness, but now I’m faced with this other thing to process.
I wasn’t ready, y’all.
It’s not like I was taking a break from Mixedness. As all this unfolded, I was prepping a whole ‘nother post for this blog. I’m spending the entire weekend immersed in Mixedness at the wonderful Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference inspired by the talents of a plethora of diverse Mixed artists, academics, advocates, and activists.
News of Jackson’s Mixed daughters wasn’t an intrusion. It just forced my attention in an area that I hadn’t anticipated.
My takeaway is that Mixed-Blackness has always been an inextricable part of USA Blackness. Even with the colorism and related class hierarchies thrust upon us (and that we’ve been sometimes known to promote and perpetuate), the two have never been separate.
I’ll leave it to better thinkers and researchers than me to determine whether Jackson’s white spouse and / or Mixed daughters had anything to do with her being Biden’s top choice. Just seems to me that even when monoracial Blackness seems to be the focus, Mixedness is often part of the story. For some, that might be a good thing. For others, it might feel like intrusion.
In any case, it seems inescapable.
Which is why I’m passionate about figuring out this Black / Mixed-Black intersection and what that means for all of us. This is the nexus where I choose to live and work, where my purpose is grounded, and my heart resides.
And as steeped in and obsessed with as I am with all things Mixed, this recent situation just proves that the topic can still sneak up and catch me unaware. A potent reminder that we are continually required to consider each other as we consider ourselves. And vice-versa.
I was delighted to hear about Ms Jackson's nomination, having been aware of her credentials. As opposed to that of that Amy person. However, totally unaware of her spouse until you just told me . Did that play into it? I just don't think so.
Very well said, I agree 100%. Thank you for saying it out loud.