The SCOTUS has never been a merit based hiring site.
Eight Justices such as Brandeis, Cardozo, Feliz Frankfurter and Abe Fortas were justices for “the Jewish seat”-—one allowed to Jewish judges. Kagan is a female and Jewish now.
And since 1967, one or more black justices have been on the Court.
Most everyone understands how the game is played but surely there were any number of black women available that at least knew how to write a proper legal opinion and had some sense of decorum rather than this ghetto DEI chick with a 2x4 on her shoulder. Of course she pretty much sums up the Biden administration.