Amy Coney Barrett Describes Grieving With Her Haitian Daughter After Seeing the George Floyd Video: ‘We Wept Together’
Judge Amy Coney Barrett opened up to the Senate Judiciary Committee about grieving over the killing of George Floyd with her 17-year-old daughter Vivian — who is adopted from Haiti.
In response to a question from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) Tuesday morning, Barrett — the nominee to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court — described her family’s emotional reaction to the Floyd video.
“As you might imagine, given the fact I have two Black children, that was very, very personal for my family,” Barrett said — referring to Vivian, as well as her son John Peter, also adopted from Haiti.
The judge said that her husband and sons were away on a camping trip when the Floyd video was made public, leaving Barrett alone with her daughters to process the footage.
“It was difficult for her,” Barrett said of Vivian’s reaction. “We wept together in my room. And then it was difficult for my daughter Juliet, who’s 10. I had to try to explain some of this to them. My children, to this point in their lives, have had the benefit of growing up in a cocoon where they have not yet experienced hatred or violence. And for Vivian to understand there would be a risk to her brother, or the son she might have one day, of that kind of brutality has been an ongoing conversation. And it’s a difficult one for us like it is for all Americans all over the country.”
Durbin went on to question the Judge for her position on where America stands on the issue of race, and whether systemic racism has been “built into” the nation. Barrett acknowledged racism in the U.S., but punted on calling it systemic.
“I think it is an entirely uncontroversial and obvious statement given, as we just talked about, the George Floyd video, that racism persists in our country,” Barrett said. “As to putting my finger on the nature of the problem whether … it’s just outright or systemic racism, or how to tackle the issue of making it better, those things are policy questions. They’re hotly contested policy questions that have been in the news and discussed all summer. So while, as I did sharing my personal experience, I’m very happy to discuss the reaction our family had to the George Floyd video, giving broader statements or making broader diagnoses about the problem of racism is beyond what I’m capable of doing as a judge.”
Watch above, via CNN
