JUSTICE AND POLITICS
Under Attack, Black Women Tussle with Trump in Pursuit of Justice
Just doing their jobs, they are engaged in historic challenges
Three Black women — two prosecutors and a judge — are in unenviable positions to lead former president Donald Trump and this nation in lessons on democracy, accountability and the rule of law.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, Atlanta-based District Attorney Fani Willis and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan have been bombarded with threats, often racial or sexualized, from Trump and his supporters. So far, a Texas woman has been arrested for making a death threat against Chutkan; an Alabama man has been charged with targeting Willis.
I worry about their safety. I am also concerned that their gender and race would be used by some as an excuse to ignore Trump wrongdoing and, even worse, his dangerous authoritarian plans for a second presidency. He has already insinuated that the women, and the justice system as a whole, are part of a conspiracy to replace white people in this country.
Yet, in 2022, there were only 33 Black women — less than 2 percent — among the 2,100 elected chief prosecutors in the nation, based on data from the Reflective Democracy Campaign. And even with President…
