For Immediate Release

January 28, 2022

**SAN DIEGO, CA -- January 28, 2022- **Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) condemns the race-based pledge by President Joe Biden to nominate "the first Black woman... to the United States Supreme Court." President Biden's promise erodes both principles of equality and merit that undergird our democratic governance and the Supreme Court as our nation's top legal institution.

"Can you imagine if an employer, any employer in this country for this matter, openly claims to prefer one race or one sex in recruiting job candidates?" commented Frank Xu, president of CFER. "Race-based hiring is simply unconstitutional and racist. The consideration of candidates for our nation's highest court, as well as for any other public office, should be primarily based on individual qualifications, rather than immutable characteristics such as race or sex."

"The job of Supreme Court Justice is too important for the President Biden to limit himself to individuals of a particular race or sex. I hope he will reconsider his position." commented Professor Gail Heriot, CFER Executive Vice President and U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner.

"The irony is not lost that the Supreme Court that will hear two high-profile cases on racial preferences in higher education is set to welcome its newest member based on racial preferences," said Wenyuan Wu, CFER's executive director.

No rationale can justify the political favoritism displayed by President Biden, which disregards both converging public opinions against racial preferences and the integrity of our public institutions. A new national survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that the majority of U.S. voters dislike the idea of choosing justices based on race or gender. Race- and sex-based endorsements for America's federal judiciary which has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases represent a toxic zero-sum scenario. The political overtone of nominating the nation's first Black female justice is inflammatory and risks disenfranchising our diverse citizenry.

The Biden pledge for our nation's supreme legal institution symbolizes an illiberal, corrosive trend, perpetuated from top decision-makers to local institutions, to assault the liberal ideals of equal opportunity, merit and liberty on one hand, and to spinelessly embrace group think, racial spoils and identity politics on the other hand. The time is now for Americans of all backgrounds and persuasions to stand up and push back.