Two Blast from the Past Re-Post about the Supreme Court, Affirmative Action, and Black Women

Kamala Harris (Kevork Djansekian/Getty); Janice Rogers Brown (Win McNamee/Getty); Leah Ward Sears (Schiff Harden LLP)

In light of the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scala, Presidents Obama's vow to fill the vacancy ASAP, and the GOP's promise to obstruct him,  EYE invite readers to read these post written the last time there was a vacancy on the supreme court.

I thought Affirmative Action and Quotas were behind us. 

Seriously, I thought with the election of Barack Obama, America had entered a "post racial" era, and the country had "moved past race" (what ever the heck that means)? Evidently it's not about being the most qualified, or the "content of ones character" when it comes to United States Supreme Court nominees. Evidently it's about being white, attending Yale or Harvard, and being Catholic and/or Jewish. Qualified, competent, protestant/atheist, African Americans, male or female need not apply. Especially if you didn't matriculate at Yale or Harvard.
During the selection process, Obama reviewed the writings of two dozen potential Justices. That list was narrowed to 10 for more research. Obama and Biden spoke with four candidates privately, including both Kagan and Seventh Circuit Judge Diane Wood, who were both finalists last year for the open seat that went to Sonia Sotomayor. Klain said Obama heard from several Senators about a desire to find someone, like Kagan, who had not already served as a judge.

Update:  According to Presidential Adviser David Axelrod, Justice Antonin Scalia rooted for Elena Kagen's nomination.  Who knew?

Less than a day after Scalia's death, David Axelrod, in a CNN blog post, shared a little-known anecdote about the 79-year-old justice: He was pulling for the nomination of liberal Justice Elena Kagan.
As President Barack Obama's senior advisor at the time, Axelrod recalled Scalia bending his ear over who should replace the retiring Justice David Souter while the two were tablemates at the 2009 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Affirmative Action is for white women only 

I find it troubling President Obama cites the trials and tribulations of the late civil rights activist Dr. Dorothy I. Height when she was refused admittance to Barnard College because they already had their quota of African American women, then over looks highly qualified Judge Diane Woods in favor of the less qualified Solicitor General Elana Kagen.

RedEye 

With the death of Antonin Scalia, President Obama has the opportunity to nominate the first black, female justice. (originally published July 8, 2013)