Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wiped away tears during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday as Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, expounded on the challenges facing young people of color who aspire to greatness in America.
Padilla, invoking his immigrant parents and the discrimination he faced as a young man of Mexican descent, said a guidance counselor discouraged him from applying to MIT. But Padilla applied anyway and got in.
After sharing his story, he asked “What would you say, Judge Jackson, to all those young Americans – the most diverse generation in our nation’s history – what would you say to some of them who may doubt that they can one day achieve the same great heights that you have?”
Jackson took a moment to compose herself before saying, “Thank you, Senator. That was very moving.”
She continued, choking back tears:
I appreciate the opportunity to speak to young people. I appreciate it very much. I do it a lot for the reasons you articulated. I try to inspire people to try and follow this path because I love this country, I love the law, because I think it’s important that we all invest in our future. And the young people are the future, so I want them to know that they could do and be anything. And I’ll just say that I will tell them what an anonymous person said to me once. I was walking through Harvard Yard my freshman year. As I mentioned I went to public school and I didn’t know anything about Harvard until my debate coach took me there to enter a speech competition. I though this was a great university, it was basically one of the only ones I had seen and I said maybe I’ll apply when I’m a senior.
But I get there, and whoa, so different. I’m from Miami, Florida. Boston is very cold. It was rough. It was different from anything I had ever known. There were lots of students there that were prep school kids like my husband, who knew all about Harvard and that was not me. And I think the first semester I was really homesick. I was really questioning, ‘do I belong here, can I make it in this environment?’ And I was walking through the Yard in the evening and a Black woman I did not know was passing me on the sidewalk and she looked at me and I guess she knew how I was feeling. And she leaned over as we crossed and said “Persevere.”
I would tell them to persevere.
Senator Corey Booker, the only Black member of the Judiciary Committee, also grew emotional during his Q&A with Jackson.
The New York Times reports:
“You are a person that is so much more than your race and gender — you are a Christian, you are a mom, you are an intellect, you love books,” he said, as Judge Jackson wiped away tears.
“I see my ancestors and yours,” he added.
He continued: “You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.”
Repeatedly proclaiming his joy over her nomination, Mr. Booker likened her to historical figures like Harriet Tubman and proclaimed Judge Jackson “my harbinger of hope” that the United States could live up to its promises of freedom and equality.
“This country gets better and better and better,” he said. “When that final vote happens, and you ascend onto the highest court in the land, I’m going to rejoice. And I’m going to tell you right now, the greatest country in the world, the United States of America, will be better because of you.”
You can watch the full exchange between Padilla and Jackson here and the Booker-Jackson exchange here.