In 1930 President Herbert Hoover nominated federal Judge John J. Parker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to the Supreme Court. A decade earlier, as a Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina, Parker had advocated black disenfranchisement. The NAACP launched an aggressive public campaign to defeat the nomination. The American Federation of Labor and organized labor joined the fight because of Parker’s decision barring the unionization of coalminers in West Virginia. As a result, the Senate rejected Judge Parker’s confirmation on May 7, 1930, by a vote of 41 to 39.
In 1930 President Herbert Hoover nominated federal Judge John J. Parker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to the Supreme Court. A decade earlier, as a Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina, Parker had advocated black disenfranchisement. The NAACP launched an aggressive public campaign to defeat the nomination. The American Federation of Labor and organized labor joined the fight because of Parker’s decision barring the unionization of coalminers in West Virginia. As a result, the Senate rejected Judge Parker’s confirmation on May 7, 1930, by a vote of 41 to 39.