Loretta Lynch made history on Thursday with her confirmation as attorney general, the first black woman to occupy the top law enforcement post in the United States. The Senate confirmed her on a 56-43 vote. She replaced Eric Holder.

Lynch's appointment comes at a time that anti-police sentiment is at an all-time high, following the series of deaths of unarmed black suspects in the hands of police, from Michael Brown in Ferguson to Freddie Gray in Baltimore.

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Her appointment comes at a time that Barack Obama, the first black president of the U.S. is about to step down in over a year's time. Obama described Lynch, a New York federal prosecutor, as tough, independent and well-respected, NBC reports.

The president said that Lynch, whose career was focused on fighting for fair and equal justice, inherited from Holder a vast portfolio of cases such as counterterrorism, voting rights, public corruption and white-collar crime.

The Republicans opposed Lynch's appointment because she supported Obama's use of executive action on immigration reform. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz warned that Lynch would set aside the Constitution if she would be confirmed. However, he could not vote against her confirmation because he had to fly to Texas for a prior commitment.

The 55-year-old AG is expected to be tough on reports of police brutality on blacks. As a young girl, she accompanied her father, Lorenzo Lynch, a Baptist minister, to plan boycotts of enterprises in North Carolina that practiced segregation. Lynch helped convict a New York cop who sexually assaulted a Haitian immigrant using a broom handle.

Her father, who was in the Senate gallery watching the voting, said, "The good guys won. That's what has happened in this country all along ... All over this land good folks have stood in the right lane, in the right path," quotes CNN.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights President Wade Henderson said her confirmation assures that Holder's legacy of fair and responsible leadership would go on. He said, "Her indisputable qualifications, character, integrity, and tenacity in the face of obstruction assure us she will serve the nation with distinction."

TagsLoretta Lynch, Attorney General, Eric Holder, racial discrimination