Sanford Heisler Sharp Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Statement on Black History Month
those provided below.At the end of this year’s Black History Month, we look ahead to the future with hope. As a committee, we are encouraged by the fact that Black leaders and their allies are pushing back against racism and its many manifestations on a daily basis and helping to shape our evolving understanding of what racism means. We celebrate the elevation of Black Americans to important roles in our government— most recently, with President Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. We encourage the United States Senate to swiftly confirm the president’s eminently qualified nominee.
“It makes me truly delighted think of Justice Brown Jackson: she is most qualified and would be the first Justice since Thurgood Marshall with experience as a criminal defense attorney. It also infuriates me, as we know that Judge Brown Jackson will be the first African American woman on the Court since the formation of the Court in 1790. 115 persons have served on the Supreme Court in our history; it is long overdue to have an African American woman serve in that role. My sincere hope is that President Biden nominates either Judge Childs or Judge Kruger should another vacancy occur fon the high court. Perhaps one day we will have a second African American woman as United States Supreme Court Justice. That would be a day of true celebration.”
In the meantime and until we are truly all free of the scourge of racism, we must all do our part to combat the barriers to racial justice both large and small. With that understanding, we sincerely wish everyone had
a very happy Black History Month and encourage everyone to maintain this focus on racial justice throughout the rest of the year.
Black Health and Wellness resources: https://www.canva.com/design/DAE0pIvaZ70/jxZoLxah7BMIksaeZpunQ/view?website#1
Racial Justice Organizations:
https://voiceofwitness.org/racial-justice-organizations/
[2]
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racism-in-healthcare#pain-treatment
[3]
Id.
[4]
Id.
Sanford Heisler Sharp Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Statement on Women’s History Month
- Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day: May 3
- Black Women’s Equal Pay Day: September 21
- Native Women’s Equal Pay Day: November 30
- Latinas’ Equal Pay Day: December 8
What this means is, on average, that Native American women and Latinas must work for nearly two full years to earn what non-Hispanic white men make in one. While the gender pay gap for white women has improved over recent years, currently at around 79 cents on the dollar, the problem remains intractably large for racial minorities.[6]
As civil rights and employment attorneys, we confront these types of inequities each day in our work. However, in this month and on this day, we hope you take the time to reflect on how far we have come and how much farther we have yet to go and to re-dedicate yourself to this work.
We would also like to share a few interesting resources and events related to Women’s History Month, Equal Pay, and the law. Please feel free to circulate any additional resources you think may be interesting!
- The Great Americans Medal Event, honoring Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Virtual event, hosted by the National Museum of American History on Wednesday,
March 30, 2022 at 6:30 PM EST - “Women in History: Lawyers and Judges” by Kelly Buchanan, Library of Congress. A blog post detailing the first
female lawyers and judges in different countries. - Gender Pay Gap Bot on Twitter. A U.K.-based bot that tweets about the gender pay gap in different
countries, featured in stories by the NY Times and the Washington Post.
[5]
https://www.aauw.org/resources/article/equal-pay-day-calendar/ (Note that the methodology here is different to account for part-time
and seasonal work.)
