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Who is Kristen Clarke? First Black woman to lead DOJ civil rights division gets lone GOP vote from Susan Collins

Barring Susan Collins of Maine, all Republicans voted against Clarke's confirmation, making her a historic first woman and first Black woman to lead the powerful divison
UPDATED MAY 26, 2021
Kristen Clarke to be the Justice Department's civil rights chief (Getty Images)
Kristen Clarke to be the Justice Department's civil rights chief (Getty Images)

The Joe Biden administration continued to expand on diversity, with the addition of Kristen Clarke as the head of the Department of Justice's (DoJ) Civil Rights Division. Clarke was narrowly confirmed on Tuesday, May 25, for her new role after the Senate voted 51-48 in favor, thus making her the first woman and first Black woman to lead the division.

A former member of the civil rights division, Clarke's appointment could be the vital push African-Americans need, after a year of protests against police brutality. She is in charge of enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, covering both law enforcement and elections. Those are vital areas for Democrats, with Republicans introducing a slew of anti-voter bills in state legislatures, which many critics call as unfairly targeting minority voters. 

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Despite being strongly against defunding the police, the GOP continued its claims of Biden's nominees being 'radical' and 'leftist', the same arguments they made for other woman nominees of color - Vanita Gupta and Deb Haaland. Nonetheless, Clarke got the job thanks to Susan Collins, the lone Republican to vote in her favor. This is why she is probably the best person for the job. 

Kristen Clarke attends the "Our Vote, Our Power" Mid Term Election Special at Times Square Studios on October 22, 2018 in New York City. (Getty Images)

Who is Kristen Clarke?

Born to immigrants from Jamaica, Clarke grew up in Brooklyn before attending the Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school. While there, she became the only girl to join the boy's wrestling squad. Clarke also met with the Choate Diversity Student Association. After school, she obtained a BA degree from Harvard University, before completing her JD from Columbia Law School in 2000. 

Fresh out of law school, Clarke first worked as a trial attorney at the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, between 2000 and 2006. Then, till 2011, she served as the Co-Director of the NAACP's Political Participation Group. In 2011, she joined the New York State Attorney General's Office as the Cheif of the Civil Rights Bureau, where she was until 2015. Clarke then moved to the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, as President and Executive Director. 

Kristen Clarke delivers a speech near the US Capitol on the 65th anniversary of Brown v Board of Education ruling. (Kristen Clarke via Instagram)

But despite such a glowing CV, Clarke's career hasn't been without controversy. As a Harvard student, she was the President of the Black Students Association (BSA) in 1994 when she invited controversial professor Tony Martin to speak. Martin, known for his anti-Semitic work 'The Jewish Onslaught', praised Clarke for inviting him. An article in the Harvard Crimson said that by inviting Martin, Clarke raised "unsettling questions".

Another time, Clarke wrote a satirical piece claiming  Blacks have “superior physical and mental abilities”. That article came back to haunt her, as Fox News brought it up shortly after her nomination. Clarke fought back, claiming that "it was meant to express an equally absurd point of view — fighting one ridiculous absurd racist theory with another ridiculous absurd theory." She also faced criticism for her support of Women's March leader Tamika Mallory, who was forced to quit after accusations of anti-Semitism. 

Nonetheless, Clarke's strong credentials show that she is the best person for the job. During her time with the New York AG's Office, Clarke worked to enforce criminal justice issues, education and housing discrimination, fair lending, barriers to reentry, voting rights, immigrants’ rights, gender inequality, disability rights, reproductive access, and LGBT issues. She has also testified in front of Congress, and many state legislatures on voting rights. These are all vital areas for the Biden administration, where they want to strengthen access despite strong Republican opposition. 



 

Senate confirmation

Clarke was nominated by President Biden on January 7, when he announced Merrick Garland as is pick for Attorney General. "If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, we will turn the page on hate and close the door on discrimination by enforcing our federal civil rights laws," Clarke stated after being nominated. The Washington Post called her nomination, "reassuring and even thrilling". 

However, she was always going to face a massive challenge to be confirmed. The Fox News expose of her Harvard past and support of Mallory forced her to go on the defensive, both on social media and in multiple interviews. She also had to apologize for those actions in her contentious Senate confirmation hearing. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Mitch McConnell also attacked Clarke for her views on police reform, which she had to correct. 

US Sen Susan Collins  (Getty Images)

"I do not support defunding the police. I do support finding strategies to ensure that law enforcement can carry out their jobs more safely and effectively and channeling resources to emotional health treatment and other severely under-resourced areas," she told Sen Dick Durbin. Nonetheless, the opposition remained. Cruz's office told CNN, "Kristen Clarke's brazen disdain for law enforcement -- evidenced by her repeated calls to defund the police and her troubling history of advocacy on behalf of brutal cop killers -- should be disqualifying to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division."

Sen Collins was the lone Republican to vote in favor of Clarke, allowing her to be confirmed by the Senate. On Tuesday, May 25, Clarke was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris at the Justice Department. Her barrier-breaking confirmation was perhaps long overdue, with the civil rights division having been formed in 1957. 

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