I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

You could say that Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life has been… one disagreement after another. This is how Ruth Bader Ginsburg changed her life and ours.

In 1940, little Ruth’s neighborhood was vibrant with immigrants-people from Italy, Ireland, England, Poland, and Germany. Jews from Russia, like Ruth’s father, Nathan Bader. People from different cultures with different holidays, foods, and traditions.
But in all these families in Brooklyn, New York, and in families everywhere, one thing was the same: Boys were expected to grow up, go out in the world, and do big things. Girls? Girls were expected to find husbands.

Celia Amster Bader thought girls should also have the chance to make their mark on the world. So she took Ruth to the library. On the shelves were stories of girls and women who did big things. Ruth read about Nancy Drew, girl detective. She discovered Amelia Earhart, daring aviator. She learned of Athena, goddess of Greek myths. Here were independent girls and women, taking charge. Ruth read her way into this world. Around her, the sweet scent of books blended with savory aromas from the Chinese restaurant downstairs, Delicious! A girl could be anything.

Sometimes Ruth and her parents took car trips out of the crowded city. As they drove past a hotel in Pennsylvania, Ruth saw a sign: “No dogs or Jews Allowed!” This is how it was in those days: hotels, restaurants, even entire neighborhoods announcing, “No Jews,” “No Colored” “No Mexicans,” and “Whites only.” Ruth and her family were Jewish. This was prejudice, pure and simple. Now it was Ruth’s turn to disagree. She disagreed by never forgetting how it felt to read such words. She never forgot the sting of prejudice.

In elementary school, Ruth was excellent in some classes-and less excellent in others. Her favorites were English, history, and gym. In those, she did well. But then there was handwriting. Ruth was left-handed. Back then, teachers told left-handers they should try to write with their right hands. Ruth’s right-handed penmanship was so bad, she earned a D on her penmanship test. She cried.
Then she protested.
Ruth protested by writing with her left hand from that day forward. And it turned out she had quite nice handwriting!

Ruth also had a little problem with sewing and cooking. These were her least favorite classes-but girls had to take them. Boys took shop, where they worked with saws and other tools.
RUTH OBJECTED
She wanted to take shop! She wanted to handle a saw! She didn’t get what she wanted. It may have been unfair to girls, and to boys, but Ruth was learning that sometimes life was like that.