Black law professor Anita Hill said the Republican treatment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson during her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing was racist and sexist, and that it undermines American democracy.
Hill spoke at a Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls luncheon in Greenwich.
Hill is a professor of law, public policy and women’s studies at Brandeis University. She told the women at the luncheon that she was not surprised by the Republican attempt to discredit Jackson. But she said some progress has been made in the 30 years since she accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his 1991 confirmation hearing.
“Yes it's a demonstration of raw and rank power in part because she was highly credentialed and successful. So don’t despair that you can’t survive this. I survived it. I continue. And at this moment in time I believe you have more people who are willing to help you survive it,” Hill said.
Hill credited the “#MeToo” movement and other women’s rights groups for helping move the agenda forward. In the meantime, she said she continues to dedicate her life to advancing women’s rights and ending gender violence.
Hill commended the Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls for being the largest women’s support fund in New England.
“I want to thank you for making it easier for me to keep believing — believing in a safe, equitable and respectable society that values women and a society that has a commitment to achieving that goal,” she said.
The foundation’s fund has given more than $8 million in grants to improve the lives of women and girls in Fairfield County since it began 24 years ago.
