Compiled By the Milwaukee Courier Staff
President Obama has served in office for eight years and faced opposition from Republicans since day one.
Foes of President Obama have questioned his ability to lead, his birthplace, his faith, and even his daughter’s college choice. And with the untimely and unexpected death of Justice Scalia, the questioning hasn’t stopped.
For many, it wasn’t a surprise that days after Scalia’s death, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the next president, who won’t be elected until November and sworn-in until January, should nominate a successor to fill the vacancy, not President Obama – even though it’s his Constitutional duty to do so.
Many African Americans see this current wave of opposition from Republicans as much deeper than political party lines.
Looking at the blatant choices from Senate Republicans to block moving forward with the confirmation process of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, it’s easy to see that this latest attempt to strip President Obama of his power is not just politics as usual.
Nationwide, there have been calls from members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rev. Al Sharpton, the NAACP, the National Urban League and others encouraging the Senate to move forward and fill the vacancy before the end of President Obama’s term. For Black voters, having President Obama fill Justice Scalia’s seat is akin to a final “check-mate” move to ensure his place as one of the best in Presidents in our history. His calm, yet serious demeanor is striking and his legacy will be vast in accomplishments from affordable healthcare to growing the economy from a deep recession to shielding the nation from falling deeper into war.
Voters know that the President’s Supreme Court nominee can have an impact on their daily lives and overturn freedoms and rights that we’re accustomed to, like a women’s right to choose, de-segregated public schools and marriage equality.
With Juneteenth upon us, it’d be remiss to understate the fact that Juneteenth is a reminder of when the last slaves in Texas received word about their freedom and the war ending on June 19, 1865.
That was at a time in our nation’s history when Black people didn’t have any rights, and were still officially recognized as three-fifths of a person, and serving as a Supreme Court Justice of the United States was out of the equation.
It was not until 1965, 100 years after the Civil War ended when Thurgood Marshall was nominated as a Supreme Court Justice by President Lyndon B. Johnson; still a very contentious time in our history, when Blacks were fighting for equal rights under the law. Marshall served on the court for 24 years until he retired in 1991.
Knowing the history of treatment of African Americans in this country by the government is important for African Americans. The way law-making bodies used intentional measures to ensure there would remain a large slaveholder mentality is an important step in the process of realizing exactly how important this Supreme Court vacancy is coming from our nation’s first Black President.
Senator Ron Johnson must do his job. He cannot be allowed to sit back and block the President’s Supreme Court nominee. It’s only right that President Obama be given the opportunity to fulfill his Constitutional duties without the Senate continuing to block everything he does, like they’ve done for the last 8 years.
