Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson spent hours on Tuesday answering repeated questions from senators, some more emotionally than others, about her previous convictions in child abuse cases, her defense of Guantanamo Bay detainees and the details of her faith.
But it was a question of whether or not babies were racist that drew the first discernible sign of annoyance from Judge Jackson, who sits on the board of trustees at Georgetown Day School, a private Washington school where the city’s elite — both conservative as well as liberal – sending their children.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, holding a stack of children’s books, had an aide display some large color photos from a children’s book titled “Antiracist Baby” by Ibram X. Kendi.
“This is a book taught at Georgetown Day School to kindergarten through second grade,” said Mr. Cruz from the podium. “Do you agree with this book teaching kids that babies are racist?”
Judge Jackson sighed audibly before leaning into the microphone.
“Senator,” she said, “I don’t believe children should be made to feel that they are racist, or that they are unappreciated, or that they are inferior, that they are victims, that they are oppressors. I don’t believe any of that.”
More coverage of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings
During his 30-minute interrogation, Mr. Cruz Judge Jackson on her views on race, racism and critical race theory. Critical race theory is a field in law schools that argues that laws and institutions can contain structural racial bias, but Republicans have used the term as a way to criticize educational materials that describe ideas about racism, racial privilege, or inequality.
After he finished “Antiracist Baby,” Mr. Cruz told Judge Jackson whether or not she’d read any of the children’s books. And she kept telling the senator that she wasn’t sure how the children’s books compare to her work as a judge.
“I haven’t reviewed any of those books, none of those ideas,” Judge Jackson said. “They don’t come out as my job as a judge, which I’m respectful to address here.”
Earlier in his interrogation process, Mr. Cruz quoted Judge Jackson’s praise for Georgetown Day’s “rigorous progressive education dedicated to advancing critical thinking, independence and social justice.” Judge Jackson responded that the school was private and that any “parent who joins the community does so voluntarily, on the understanding that they are joining a community designed to ensure that every child is valued.”
Lisa Fairfax, the chair of the school’s board of trustees and a longtime friend of Judge Jackson, spoke on her behalf at Monday’s opening hearing. A representative of Georgetown Day School did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Feeling a high-profile battle over cultural issues ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, more Republicans are likely to bring up Judge Jackson’s affiliation with the school and try to tie her into the curriculum.
Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn said Monday she was concerned that Judge Jackson was on the board of a school that Ms. Blackburn claimed taught 5-year-olds to choose their gender and taught them what she called “so-white called privilege.”
“This school has hosted an organization called ‘Woke Kindergarten’ and is promoting an anti-racist education program for white families,” said Ms. Blackburn, calling it “progressive indoctrination of children,” raising concerns about how Judge Jackson might rule in cases. regarding parental rights.
Cruz began his questioning of Judge Jackson by calling her opening statement “powerful and inspiring” on Monday, before questioning her about a speech Judge Jackson gave at the University of Michigan describing the thesis of the 1619 project, a collection of 2019 essays in DailyExpertNews Magazine, as “provocative.”
Republicans have tried to characterize her as an avid supporter of the project, which put slavery and black Americans at the center of the historic national narrative. Judge Jackson replied that her speech focused primarily on black women and their contributions to the civil rights movement. Mr. Cruz then asked her what she thought critical race theory meant.
She replied that critical race theory “has never been something I’ve studied or relied on” and that it wouldn’t be something she would study or rely on if she was on the Supreme Court.