It’s a tragedy that in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing we are not allowed to mourn.
Instead, within hours of her death Friday evening politicians were plotting as to how President Donald Trump would use the occasion to reinvigorate his campaign.
Indeed, by Saturday morning the president said he would field a nominee this week and that the Senate should conduct confirmation hearings “without delay.”
Before we get swallowed up by that unseemly chaos, let’s give “The Notorious RBG” her due.
History books will describe Ginsburg’s tenure as an attorney and U.S. Supreme Court Justice as a warrior for the underdog, especially in terms of civil rights, women’s rights and in her later years, voting rights.
Ginsburg maintained that sex discrimination was never on her radar until she began to experience it firsthand, beginning in law school.
In 1956, Ginsburg was one of only nine female students at Harvard Law School. According to her biography, the law school dean corralled the women to ask why they were taking up valuable seats that could otherwise be occupied by men.
And though she graduated as valedictorian, her gender threw up roadblocks at every turn. Despite her stellar record, she was denied a clerkship to the U.S. Supreme Court and positions at prestigious law firms with those in position of authority making no bones that they would prefer a man.
Such actions at the time were not only common, but legal.
When she joined the faculty at Rutgers Law, her salary was less than that of her male colleagues. So she fought back. And won.
People should be judged as individuals, not according to preconceived stereotypes, she said.
It’s largely because of Ginsburg that women today have a fighting chance at equality in the workplace.
As a Justice for 27 years, and only the second woman to serve on the high court, Ginsburg worked to ensure the promise of The Constitution applied to everyone.
In Ginsburg’s mind, her passing at age 87 would be but a footnote in history. Our solace is that over her long career, she was a mentor to generations of young women who will carry her legacy forward.
Her regard for public service — “If you want to be a true professional, do something outside yourself” — warms the heart.
