Kristen Clarke, Joe Biden's pick for top civil rights job, tells senators about her own son
WASHINGTON – Kristen Clarke, President Joe Biden's pick to be the Justice Department's civil rights chief, is promising to make racial equality a top priority, drawing on her experiences as a longtime civil rights attorney and a single mother of a Black teenager.
"As I look to my own son … I remain committed to the promise of working every day to build a world of equal opportunity for all," Clarke said in a prepared opening statement. "A world where no 16-year-old is the target of hateful language. A world where no young man is racially profiled. I dream of a world that values his mind, his heart … and does not push him aside because of the color of his skin. I dream of that for every child in America."
Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, appeared Wednesday during a 2 1/2-hour nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
If confirmed, Clarke would be the first Black woman to fill the post. Her nomination comes at a pivotal time for the department, as high profile deaths of Black citizens during confrontations with police have led to months of social justice protests and calls for reform. Clarke is expected to play a pivotal role in reinvigorating the Justice Department's investigations of police departments – efforts that Democrats said were eroded under the previous administration – as well as in the prosecution of hate crimes and enforcement of voting rights laws.
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