Last week's confirmation of Ronnie White was a milestone, and not just because the Senate corrected a 15-year old injustice. It was also a diversity milestone: Ronnie White is the 100th person of color that President Obama has made a federal circuit or district court judge.
That is more than twice the number at the same point in the George W. Bush Administration, and far exceeds Bush's total for his entire eight years in office. In fact, President Obama has had more minority judges confirmed than any other president.
One of the hallmarks of President Obama's judicial nominations has been his commitment to a federal bench that is not only highly qualified, but also reflective of the great diversity of the American people. And he has succeeded on that score, despite unprecedented obstruction from Senate Republicans.
With last week's confirmation of Ronnie White, President Obama reached a milestone in correcting an injustice that goes back not just 15 years, but all the way back to the nation's founding: the systematic exclusion of people of color from the federal bench.