Essay Example on Ruth Bader Ginsburg: An Icon of Equality, Liberties and Rights

Introduction

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in March 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. Ginsburg’s father was a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine while her mother was born in New York to Austrian Jewish parents (Ginsburg, 2016). In 1993, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve in the United States’ Supreme Court. Her work changed the way people used to think about women. She continues to be a prominent voice for gender equality, liberties, and civil rights, racial and ethnic equality. Ginsburg is an icon to many liberals due to her fierce attitude and her work towards eliminating gender-based stereotyping in legislation and regulation. This paper describes Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her contributions to equality, and her legacies.

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Lifetime and History

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also identified as Joan Ruth Bader, was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, by Celia Bader and Nathan Bader. She studied in Madison High school, Brooklyn. Her mother instilled in her the importance of education and being independent (Ginsburg, 2016). Unfortunately, her mother passed on a day before her graduation. She later graduated from Cornell University in 1954, becoming the first in her course. She wedded Martin D. Ginsburg. Ginsburg joined Harvard Law School but shifted to Columbia Law School to join her family. In her entire life, she flourished in the face of adversity for taking positions of qualified males. She became the first lady in the Harvard Law Review.

Despite her educational achievement, she continued facing gender discrimination while looking for employment. She became a clerk for the US District judge Edmund Palmieri from 1959 to 1962. From 1963 to 1972, she trained at Rutgers University Law School, then at Columbia Law School from 1972. At Columbia School, she was the first woman titled professor. In her work, she contended several cases on sex equality (Ginsburg, 2016). Ginsburg was selected for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1980. In 1993, she was appointed to the US Supreme Court. She attained the American Bar Association Marshall Award in 1999 due to her work towards equality and civic human rights (Roland, 2016). She also objected to the court's majority favoring George W. Bush. Ginsburg also upheld the Affordable Care Act. She overturned a policy involving the Social Security Act that favored widows against the widowers.

However, she has had several health alarms, including colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lung cancer (Roland, 2016). In May 2020, Ginsburg was admitted to a hospital to go through an intervention for a gall bladder disease. She was, however, discharged, and currently, she is healthy. She continues to serve in the US Supreme Court while advocating for gender and racial equality.

Racial or Ethnic Background

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Jewish. Her father was a Jewish immigrant from Odesa, Ukraine, which was in the Russian Empire. Her mother was born by Austrian Jewish parents (Ginsburg, 2016). She is conscious of her Jewish roots, although not religiously observant. She narrates that at the time she was growing up, many signs prohibited Jews from certain places. During World War II, there was discrimination for Jews living in America. The racial discrimination motivated her to sensitize towards racial equality in her entire career.

Reasons She is Important

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is vital as she was the second woman to work for the Supreme Court of the US. She used her position to pioneer gender equality. Ginsburg worked to eliminate gender stereotyping in the regulations and legislation as, during her time, some positions and opportunities were believed to be for qualified men (Gibson, 2018). She also worked as the co-founder of the Women's Rights Project and the American Civil Liberties Union, in which she contended six momentous cases before the Supreme Court. She was victorious in a case encompassing the Social Security Act that preferred women by giving favors to widows while excluding widowers. As a judge, she is regarded as a part of the Supreme Court’s modest liberal with a strong voice of support of gender impartiality, rights of workforces, and the state.

Ginsburg also contributed to racial equality. She utilized the prior rulings on the race to show why racial discrimination should end (Roland, 2016). She further contributed to liberties and civil rights. Therefore she is an icon.

Contributions to Gender Equality and Racial/Ethnic Equality

Ginsburg was the co-founder of the females’ project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which pioneered women's rights. She acted as a campaigner for the development of sex equality and females rights (Roland, 2016). In her entire career, Ruth led the way for gender equality. She initiated projects that participated in over 300 cases of gender discrimination in the Supreme Court with a victory of some. She started with an inconsequential case in Reed v. Reed by challenging the law that required men's appointment to administer estates despite there being qualified women. She wrote a brief that helped in invalidating the state’s preference for males.

Additionally, Ginsburg sought to advocate for both males and females to ensure equality. She strategically chose to argue men’s cases and women, to show how gender discrimination hurt everyone, including men (Small, 2017). In one of the cases, Ginsburg managed to convince the court to overturn a policy to provide an allowance for married male officers but not for married female officers.

Furthermore, she protected the females’ rights by effectively contending that women should not be permitted to buy beers at a younger age compared to males. She also filed the amicus brief to eliminate the old-fashioned stereotypes that were exemplified by the law (Small, 2017). Besides, Ginsburg joined in the fight for equal pay for equal work for both genders. The case was filed by Lily Ledbetter, who complained of lower pay compared to her male colleagues. Most of her cases were pivoted on the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which illustrates that people should be protected in the same way by the United States Laws. She took to a gradual course of ending gender inequality aiming at the discriminatory statutes built on successive victory.

Moreover, she contributed to racial equality. During her time, there was racial segregation, and growing up, she faced discrimination for being a Jew (Small, 2017). The blacks were also treated with discrimination. The racial outlook changed due to her advocacy of gender equality. She also dissented in a ruling that undermined the Voting Rights Act. One of the cases included the Shelby County v. holder (2013). She led a legal advocacy group that helped in fuelling the rights revolution.

Ruth Ginsburg also wrote a book titled My Own Words, which was published in 2016. The book reviews her law articles, speeches, and dissents. It describes her life, gender equality, and the interpretation of the constitution (Small, 2017). Ginsburg has a treatise on the need for an equal rights amendment. The book is read globally and serves to enhance equality.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Legacies and Lessons Learnt

Despite being known for restrained writing, Ginsburg became the first in her class. She also became the second female to work in the United States Supreme Court. She gained significant attention for her dissenting outlook in the case of Bush v. Gore, which aimed at deciding the 2000 presidential elections (Gibson, 2018). She opposed the court’s popular opinion that favored Bush. In the case, she deliberately concluded by saying that she dissents.

Moreover, Ruth Ginsburg is an icon in promoting women's rights and gender equality. She founded the ACLU Women's Rights project in 1972, which achieved momentous legal victories for women's rights (Gibson, 2018). Ginsburg laid a foundation for the advocacy of women's rights. She also contributed to the recognition of women in positions that were considered to be for qualified males. Throughout her career, she has been a pioneer of gender equality.

One of the lessons learned from her is to leave the world a better place. Growing up and in her education, Ginsburg faced adversities due to gender inequality. She dedicated her entire career toward ensuring gender and racial equality. In her work as a justice, she has had six landmark cases that may be applied to overcome cases of inequality (Gibson, 2018). Gender equality in America was due to her efforts.

Besides, people should be brave enough to get in front of significant causes. After graduating from Columbia, she was rejected by the law firms because of her gender. She founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter dedicated to legal issues surrounding women's rights (Gibson, 2018). She also founded the ACLU project to contest for women’s rights.

Conclusion

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a jurist in the US Supreme court. She was the first woman to be selected to work for the Supreme Court despite facing gender discrimination before. In her entire life, she has dedicated her efforts towards gender and racial equality. She also advocated for liberties and women's rights. She is, therefore, an icon as she has managed to influence the world towards equality.

References

Gibson, K. L. (2018). Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Legacy of Dissent: Feminist Rhetoric and the Law. University of Alabama Press. http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Ruth-Bader-Ginsburgs-Legacy-of-Dissent,6837.aspx

Ginsburg, R. B. (2016). My own words. Simon and Schuster. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/My-Own-Words/Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg/9781501145254

Roland, J. (2016). Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Iconic Supreme Court Justice. Lerner Publications. https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/14670

Small, C. (2017). Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme Court Justice. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. https://www.cavendishsq.com/title/Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg