Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh were questioned live in front of the entire country about their past during the Supreme Court nominee’s Senate Judiciary hearing last week. There were various highlights throughout the questioning during which I sat appalled at what this country has come to, though I was not at all surprised that this is the current state of this nation. I urge you to watch the events of the hearing if you have not already done so.
Kavanaugh’s rhetoric and attitude during his entire testimony exuded straight, white male privilege.
Senators who support Kavanaugh, such as Lindsey Graham, paralleled the nominee’s rhetoric and made it very obvious during the hearing why they believe this man is rightfully on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh was confirmed Oct. 6 by a vote of 50 to 48.
Kavanaugh attended the prestigious Yale University. “If you lived a good life, people would recognize it, like the American Bar Association,” Graham said during the hearing. Since Kavanaugh was approved by the American Bar Association to become a lawyer, this is apparently enough of a standard to know someone has good character despite being accused of sexual assault.
Some white men’s speech, like Graham’s and Kavanaugh’s, indicate that they believe this is enough of a reputation to join one of the most prestigious and high-standing group of professionals in this country. The job should have simply been handed to him ages ago because he has not done anything wrong, according to apparent Republican Party principles.
As a straight, white man in this position of power, Kavanaugh is allowed to get away with lying under oath purely because of the nature of our society. The white man is always right, and, even if he is not, he has the ability to be perceived as right anyway. Our country has allowed white men with higher status to get away with very problematic words or actions in order for them to reach their goals.
He is a privileged human being because he is white, straight and male. As an advantaged man, he is used to receiving what he wants when he wants it. Through Graham saying,“This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics,” it is obvious that Kavanaugh and his supporters believe that opponents wrongfully tried to block his confirmation.
The fact that he is a privileged man who is not receiving what he so “rightfully deserves” infuriated him to the point where he said he has gone through “hell.” In reality, opponents tried to hold him accountable for the horrendous actions people have claimed from his pasts. Heroic women have stepped forward to be judged by the entire country in order to recount the hurtful experiences from their pasts. Kavanaugh’s questioning is seen as the true problem rather than the experiences of these victims because he has privilege that they do not.
Kavanaugh’s deceitful explanations of specific events or terms from his past are in question based off online information and what teens from the 1980s remember.
He allegedly told these lies because he knew that some people would not question and look past it because he is a white male who has supposedly gone through the right endeavors in life to get him to where he is.
He also claimed he got into Yale University with no connections when, in fact, his grandfather attended the institution. The Supreme Court nominee went on to claim that terms like “boof” and “devil’s triangle” are associated with drinking. When looking up these words online, both are allegedly related to sexual acts.
The public must hold Kavanaugh accountable for these lies and stop the benefits that straight, white men keep receiving. Unfortunately, a white male has again been handed what he wants and escaped the consequences he deserved.