NAACP Defeats John Parker's Supreme Court Nomination Over Anti-Black Record

In May 1930, the U.S. Senate rejected President Hoover's nomination of Judge John J. Parker to the Supreme Court 41–39 following an NAACP campaign documenting Parker's 1920 statement that Black participation in politics was 'a source of evil' and his judicial record upholding anti-Black measures. The NAACP coordinated Black voter pressure on senators in key states. The defeat marked the first time Black political power had successfully blocked a Supreme Court nomination, demonstrated that the Northern Black vote was becoming a consequential electoral force, and sent a signal to politicians that anti-Black positions carried costs.