It’s been, to say the least, a frustrating week on the Senate floor, as President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has been subjected to a nonstop barrage of racist and generally offensive questioning courtesy of GOP senators like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz. Seeing a Black woman begin the process of (hopefully) being confirmed to the Supreme Court should have been a watershed moment, and for many, it was. However, the historical import of Jackson’s confirmation hearings was somewhat overshadowed by the racism and gender-based idiocy that Republican senators seemed to feel perfectly comfortable lobbing her way. (Seriously, Senator Cruz—you have one of the sharpest legal minds in the country on the stand, and you waste time asking her if she believes babies are racist?)
What felt like a corrective to that ugliness, though, was the clear and visible bond between Jackson and her husband, gastrointestinal surgeon Patrick Jackson, who was present for every moment of the hearings. Dr. Jackson has gone soft-viral for the statement socks he’s worn with aplomb throughout the week, and seeing him seated behind Jackson day after day (and occasionally tearing up as she has knocked question after question out of the park) is an inchoate lesson in the power of true partnership.
The Jacksons met at Harvard three decades ago, and the family tradition of Dr. Jackson being wowed by his wife’s professional prowess dates back quite a bit: A federal judge whom Jackson clerked for recalls Dr. Jackson heading directly from long nights on call at Massachusetts General Hospital to the courtroom to watch Jackson in lawyer mode. I know we tend to hand men (especially conventionally attractive, straight white men) too much credit for doing anything remotely supportive, but…I die!
The Jacksons are parents to two teenage daughters, Talia and Leila, the latter of whom was captured smiling proudly as her mother took the stand, and even that small moment was a reminder of the long-ranging effects that one spouse or partner’s support for another can have. Children learn by observing, even—especially—when you think they’re not paying attention, and Dr. Jackson has clearly set an example for his daughters that their mom’s work is something to celebrate and admire.
Obviously, I don’t know the inner truth of the Jacksons’ marriage (does anyone know the inner truth of anyone’s marriage, at the end of the day?), but I have to admit I was moved hearing Jackson say during her hearings that “none of this would have been possible” without her husband’s support. Powerful and career-motivated women like Jackson are so frequently forced to do double duty at home and at work for lack of a truly present and committed partner. After a nonstop week of racist invective, it’s comforting to think that Ketanji Brown Jackson can at least rely on her family to hold her up amidst one of the most significant and challenging moments of her life.
Women everywhere—and Black women in particular, who are too often labeled “strong” without anyone stopping to offer them the support they have systemically been denied—deserve partners who look at them with a mixture of awe and respect while they achieve great things. After the horror show that was Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process, it’s deeply inspiring to think that, with the days of Ruth and Marty Ginsburg behind us, we might get a representation of that type of tenderness and care in the highest court in the land again.
This post originally appeared on Vogue.
