Judge A. Leon Higginbotham is one of the more prominent figures in American history, known primarily as one of the earliest Black federal judges and a sterling advocate for civil rights. Once, in a case called Pennsylvania v. Local Union 542, Int’l Union of Operating Eng’rs, these qualities resulted in defendants in an employment discrimination action to request he recuse himself. The opinion he wrote in response (which you can read here) is a magisterial examination of the double-standards of racism, the false belief that Black equals biased while White equals neutral, and the flat declaration that, in a world where White supremacy was no longer tolerated, White litigants sometimes were going to have to deal with arguing before Black judges.
It’s a brilliant piece in general, but one area where it has particular resonance for me is in the still-prevalent belief that Jews are not fit — not neutral, not impartial, not unbiased — to hold authority over questions related to Jewish life and experience. The parallels are to me quite striking, and Judge Higginbotham recognized them. In his opinion, he referenced favorably the fact that Jewish judges often did sit on the boards of various Jewish organizations and actively campaigned against anti-Semitism while they were at it. It is not a symptom of bias, it is a symbol of being political equals: that we are first-class citizens who are capable of participating in the public square with vigor without it calling into question are ability to be fair-minded public servants.