Ruth Bader Ginsburg—Role Model and Inspiration

 Like so many of us, I was saddened when I heard one of my role models had passed away on Friday, September 18 after a long battle with cancer. Somehow, even though I knew she was 87, I really believed she was timeless. She had been seriously ill several times over the past years and bounced back, but not this time. Pancreatic cancer is not something the notorious RBG could beat.

The morning following her death was a perfect day in Washington, DC—bright blue sky and temperature in the high 60’s. I love this time of year when it is warm but not humid. I decided I needed to join the crowds as the Supreme Court to honor Justice Ginsburg.

The atmosphere outside the beautiful Supreme Court building was respectful but sad. I saw countless women with their daughters. I saw lots of young women on their own or with friends. I saw fathers with their children. One young girl was riding on her dad’s shoulders holding a bouquet of yellow roses while her dad was clutching more flowers.

There were flowers just lying on the ground which bothered me at first. I’ve never understood why people take something living like a beautiful flower and just lay it down in front of a fence. I remember seeing this done was when Princess Diana was killed, and it seemed like such a waste. But, as I was standing quietly right in front of the building, a woman—a total stranger—handed me a long-stemmed white rose. 

It took me a few minutes to deal with the emotions that flooded my mind and then I leaned over and placed my rose on top of the other flowers. Tears were streaming down my face as I turned away from the crowd and started my walk back to the Metro to return home. I’m grateful to that stranger who helped me connect with what I was feeling by handing me the flower, and I am grateful to Justice Ginsburg for all she did for me and for so many others.

I read interviews with former law clerks of hers who had wonderful stories to tell. One resonated with me because as an author, I constantly struggle with using the right words and the right number of words. According to attorney Ruthanne Deutsch, she instructed her clerks when writing to, “get it right and keep it tight.” I’m putting that up on my computer as a new motto!

Ginger Anders who clerked for Justice Ginsberg said in 2004, “She didn’t tell war stories and she rarely talked about herself. She simply showed up every day and did the very best work she could.” Now that’s advice we call can take to heart.

One of the many homemade signs I saw on Saturday was a quote from the Justice that read, “I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the best of her ability.”

To say, “She will be missed,” seems like such a trite way to end this memory, but it’s the truth.  Since she was all about the truth, I will stop here and just say thank you to a wonderful woman who definitely will be missed.

Freedom

During these unprecedented times, what does freedom mean to each of us individually and collectively? It’s a question worth contemplating this week as we celebrate July 4^th in ways that will be different from prior year celebrations.

I started thinking about this blog over a month ago. In that time, so much has changed. This may be a good time to reflect on recent events and freedom.

COVID-19. Starting in March 2020 and into early May, much of the country was confined because of the virus.  Businesses closed. Stay at home and wear masks in public orders were issued. Some of these directives were met with verbal protests about restrictions of freedom and civil rights. 

One letter I read proclaimed that freedom is freedom no matter what we are facing and criticized the directives to wear masks declaring that somehow her freedom was being withdrawn.  Her letter was more a rant than a compelling, persuasive argument. Did the writer consider that along with freedom comes responsibility? One person’s freedom ends when it impinges on another’s right. The commentator’s choice not to wear a mask encroaches on other people’s right to be safe from a public health risk—one like we’ve never seen before. 

Black Lives Matter. How silly all of this rhetoric about restrictions of freedom and civil rights over wearing masks sounded a few short weeks later when George Floyd was killed on May 25, and the country erupted in protest over systemic discrimination against African American citizens.  The protesters represented a wide diversity of American citizens: diversity in age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, occupation, and the list goes on.  

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, commemorates the proclamation on June 19, 1865, that slaves in Texas were free. President Lincoln had officially outlawed slavery in Texas and the other states in rebellion against the Union almost two and a half years earlier. A little-known holiday likely until this year, it enjoyed nation-wide attention and celebration. A quote in one article I read said that for African Americans, Juneteenth was their independence day—they weren’t free on July 4, 1776. Now there is a call to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

LGBTQ+. Five days before Juneteenth, on June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, stating that: “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex.” Employment discrimination against someone because of their sexual orientation or transgender status is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Law’s prohibition against discrimination because of sex.   

Will protests, demonstrations, national holidays, and Supreme Court decisions eliminate bias and discrimination?  No.  Have these events raised our collective awareness? I would like to think that we are finally realizing that the freedoms some of us enjoy are not, and have not been, equally enjoyed by all. This is a good week to reflect on that. Consider what you can do and what you will do.