Brigid the Poet and RBG, revisited

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on Ruth Bader Ginsburg as an example of a Brigid poet. A few people challenged me on this, saying her record wasn’t all that great. So, I decided to dig into that record a bit deeper.

The Good

I think it’s obvious to say that RBG’s focus was on gender equity and reproductive rights. (Just an FYI, most of the quotes from this section come from this article from 2020. This article is my source for this post. The same info is covered elsewhere as well.). And equally, particularly given Brig Ambue’s decision on the matter of women taking possession of land, I think it safe to say that Brigid the Poet is very interested in this area.

Her clear, unwavering conviction that women must be given equal treatment under the law changed the legal rights of half of the nation

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights

It’s also clear, from her earliest days working in the legal profession, that RBG was intent on making things better from a gender equity point of view. I have no doubt that this stemmed from her early experiences of discrimination. She was one of only 9 women out of 500 students in her class at Harvard Law School.

As a professor at Rutgers Law School, she joined with female colleagues to file an Equal Pay Act complaint over disparities in teaching pay, eventually forcing the university to settle.

The Loss of a Reproductive Rights Champion: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Without a doubt, she was a strong supporter of the #metoo movement, saying:

I think it will have staying power because people, and not only women, men as well as women, realize how wrong the behavior was and how it subordinated women.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking to the Atlantic, quoted in The Loss of a Reproductive Rights Champion: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

And seriously, I can’t imagine any aspect of Brigid, never mind Brigid the Poet not supporting that movement either!

The article lists her achievements in the field of gender equity and reproductive rights. As examples, it cites her opposition to TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws, her stance against the military forcing discharge on pregnant members and always, the idea that all citizen’s should be equal, regardless of gender.

A true poet in the Brig Ambue tradition, yes?

The not so good

OK, so a lot of the criticism laid against RBG has to do with the areas her record has been less stellar. For this section, my quotes come from The Marshall Project, in particular, the article linked.

With Brig Ambue in mind, it’s hard to think that Brigid as Poet wouldn’t support those discriminated because of race or who are treated badly by the criminal justice system. Actually, it’s hard to think of her not supporting any of the oppressed. (And please, please remember, the closer you are to being rich, white, Christian, male, able bodied, fluent in the main language in your country, born in the country you reside in, legal status etc, the less likely you are to be oppressed, ok?)

RBG’s visibility on these matters are fairly critiqued in the Marshall Project article linked above.

When it came to prison conditions and the rights of incarcerated people, Justice Ginsburg simply wasn’t as visible. She wasn’t the primary author on any of our blockbuster human-rights-in-prison cases.

Andrea Armstrong, law professor at Loyola University New Orleans, The Marshall Project

The article rightly points out that she didn’t take the same stand on race as she did on gender equity. It’s obvious that she let other colleagues take the lead here. In saying that, another quote from the same article:

The reality, of course, is that no Supreme Court justice in recent memory has been a consistent champion of the rights of incarcerated people. Justice Ginsburg recognized prisoners as rights-bearing individuals and was willing, more frequently than most of her colleagues, to uphold those rights against government challenges.

David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project, The Marshall Project

When it came to the Black Lives Matter movement, RBG’s legacy is less positive.

I think when it comes to more modern issues of racial justice including police brutality and Black Lives Matter, I think she failed in that regard. And I’m talking specifically about her comments about Colin Kaepernick. I do credit her with pretty quickly saying she shouldn’t have said that. But I would rather her have said nothing.

Imani Gandy, senior editor of law and policy at Rewire News, The Marshall Project

While initially RBG commented that it was “really dumb” for Colin Kaepernick and others to not stand for the national anthem, she quickly retracted that.

“Some of you have inquired about a book interview in which I was asked how I felt about Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who refused to stand for the national anthem,” Ginsburg said. “Barely aware of the incident or its purpose, my comments were inappropriately dismissive and harsh. I should have declined to respond.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg apologizes to Colin Kaepernick after criticizing anthem protest, (this one’s from a different article, just to be clear)

When it comes to indigenous rights, she produced equally mixed results:

In 2016, she wrote the opinion in US v Bryant about the use of tribal court convictions to enhance federal sentences for domestic violence repeat offenders. It was very much a question of issues of gender and violence against women. But before that she wrote several opinions that were really awful for tribal interests. She struck down a $600 million judgment that favored the Navajo Nation that was the result of overt obvious corruption in the Department of Interior. She wrote the opinion in CITY OF SHERRILL V. ONEIDA INDIAN NATION OF NEW YORK3 that was incredibly dismissive of tribal prerogatives. Some of the language in that opinion is considered some of the more overtly racist language in its challenge and skepticism of tribal interests.

Carole Goldberg, distinguished research professor at UCLA Law, The Marshall Project

So where does this leave us with RBG?

Well, to be honest, she’s still a hero of mine. See, I remember the path I had to travel. Back in the 90’s, I was barely a feminist. I mean, I was one of those “not like other girls” girls. I spent my 20’s outdrinking and outshagging anyone around me. For me, I was horrified at the notion of being “girly” or “feminine” !

So I understand why and how RBG might have changed her stance on certain issues and why in her later years, she might have improved a bit on the whole intersectional feminism. I grew up not being aware of the concept of intersectional feminism. I was in my thirties before I understood that the oppression of women was in tandem with the oppression of others. Not to mention the fact that we didn’t need to fight each other, but we need to join together to fight the oppressors.

She made mistakes. She is not a golden hero, as our hearts might wish it. Blind spots, learning, liberal in certain areas only… all can be laid at her feet. But she fought for what she believed in. That’s important. She stood up for (at least some of) the oppressed. I believe we can’t be experts in all things. Maybe some of the areas she didn’t author verdicts or dissents, she didn’t feel she was expert enough on? Or other people were better able to voice the accounts?

Finally

I firmly believe no one is perfect. I think putting too much of a sheen on the memory of someone is dangerous in all sorts of ways. But I also think we need to give credit where credit is due. So with RBG, absolutely, let’s remember the good. And also remember where we can learn from her mistakes. Most importantly, let’s try not to make the same blasted mistakes ourselves!