Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born to an immigrant family; her father came at age 13 her mother was the first of her siblings to have been born in the US. She grew up a proud Brooklynite and became an American icon in a lineage of Americans who shaped democracy as an innovative “experiment” of a tough, yet distinct promise of equality.
Our country was built on a haunting contradiction; a settler state of Britons who were part of the worst excesses of 18th century colonialism, the vanquishing of the native population; and the massive importation of enslaved Africans, and yet created a democracy, for white men, that was in many ways more egalitarian than any government in Europe. Oppression and equality lined the heart of American democracy; they were the contradictions that Alexis de Tocqueville wrestled with almost two centuries ago and we are still wrestling with them, as did, until a few days ago, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Last month, we celebrated the centenary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave the right to vote to women. RBG was born 13 years later, and grew up at a time when (white) women had the vote, but in almost every other way they were disempowered, politically, economically, and legally. She grew up in the ebb between “first wave” and “second wave” feminism. She became a crucial part of the new feminism of the 1960, a legal stalwart, dismantling law after law that tried to keep women in the “place” assigned them by male society. It was only half a century ago, in 1971, that she became the first tenured faculty member at Columbia Law School.
RBG saw the quest for equality for women an essential part of the broader American democratic promise, following the legacy of the founders who made a conscious choice to etch equality in its declaration of selfhood, “all men are created equal.” Yet the first famous words of the declaration have always been a paradox of inclusion and exclusions. These colliding principles have been the ground on which democracy’s battles would take place. Equality, one of the signs of achieving true democracy would never be easily granted. Each of America’s icons from Jefferson’s own gap between his practice (slaver owner) and promise (equality), to a distinct lineage including Lincoln, MLK, Susan B. Anthony and a multitude of leaders and ordinary sojourners, all pushing forward equality.
RBG was keenly aware of the complexity of the ideals and the perils from which we have drawn to shape our identities and outline our destinies. She embraced the historic moment of the 1960s that expanded civil rights and in 2004 was still confident about the trajectory of the promised equality.
I was fortunate to be a child, a Jewish child, safely in America during the Holocaust. Our nation learned from Hitler’s racism and, in time, embarked on a mission to end law-sanctioned discrimination in our own country. In the aftermath of World War II, in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, in the burgeoning Women’s Rights movement of the 1970s, “We the People” expanded to include all of humankind, to embrace all the people of this great nation. Our motto, E Pluribus Unum, of many one, signals our appreciation that we are the richer for the religious, ethnic, and racial diversity of our citizens.
At the same time that RBG drew strength from “we the people,” she was inspired by Jewish ethics of justice that she saw as tightly linked to the American equality capacity.
My heritage as a Jew and my occupation as a judge fit together symmetrically. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition. I take pride in and draw strength from my heritage, as signs in my chambers attest: a large silver mezuzah on my door post, gift from the Shulamith School for Girls in Brooklyn; on three walls, in artists’ renditions of Hebrew letters, the command from Deuteronomy: “Zedek, zedek, tirdof” – “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” Those words are ever-present reminders of what judges must do that they “may thrive.”
Until 2016 it was still possible for RBG to hope that from the tragedy of the Holocaust America drew searing ethical lessons that would move us in favor of equality, “Our nation learned from Hitler’s racism and, in time, embarked on a mission to end law-sanctioned discrimination in our own country.” We are, however, facing a time in which fascist ideas that RBG thought had been defeated are taking hold in our country. Democracy itself is deeply imperiled. This White House and the Republican senators are going to repeal fundamental inclusions, restore ugly exclusions, muzzle a range of human rights and do away with the pursuit of justice. And we as a nation will not thrive.
RBG fought for us her entire life. Now, just days after her death we must honor her by fighting for equality with her fierce tenacity. Everything is on the line, reproductive rights, protection against sexual assault, equal pay, healthcare, voting rights, safety for immigrants, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, climate change, a fair Supreme Court, and very directly the fate of democracy in America. Let’s fight. Begin with putting pressure on Republican Senators of your state, demanding no confirmation until the next president takes office. And then let’s put Biden in the White House and rebuild democracy.
To honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s iconic journey we need to do our part in what she described as “our long struggle for a more just world.”