It’s difficult to overstate just how much of an icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is. My fangirling levels were off the charts the first time I saw her at Notre Dame. I was moved by her story, by the way she described the challenges she overcame in her journey from the streets of Brooklyn to the United States Supreme Court. There is no question as to her commitment to Civil Rights, as she highlighted how she spent decades fighting for women’s rights, LGBT Rights, and racial equality, among others.
Which is why I was disheartened when, in a recent interview, she criticized Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests as a “stupid, dumb thing to do”. She noted how, while she would not jail someone for engaging in this type of protest, she found it profoundly disrespectful. How could one of my idols, a woman who discussed her struggles with discrimination with such candor, dismiss a powerful (and relatively peaceful) protest challenging a reality that affects African Americans in this country? How could she fail to grasp the significance of this protest in light of so many cases of police brutality that have marked 2016?
I was disheartened yet not surprised. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while an admirable woman in her own right who has overcome her own share of hardships, is also relatively privileged.
As a 70 year old white woman who holds a significant amount of power and privilege, she is bound to be somewhat removed from contemporary discourse on racial inequality. While she clearly recognizes the existence of racial discrimination in America (as evidenced by her stances on issues such as affirmative action and housing discrimination), she is also fairly distanced from the struggles of people of color. Her recent comments reflect not just an ignorance of racial struggle, but an ignorance regarding how circumstance informs protest.
Her attitude reflects an inevitable distance from the problem, a distance that people of color do not have. She does not have to worry about housing discrimination or incarceration or police brutality in the same way that millions of African Americans in this country do.
However, I don’t want this article to focus primarily on Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Recently, Justice Ginsburg took the opportunity to apologize for her comments, and recognized how dismissive and uninformed her tone was. Rather, I want to discuss what her comments reveal about the way we view racial protest. Because what her comments indicate, above all, is discomfort. I’ve witnessed it this entire election. Progressive Bernie Supporters would ask Black protesters to avoid disrupting rallies. White feminists often ask women of color not to talk about their particular pain. Even the most well-meaning white allies are ignorant of just how necessary it is to use more poignant and confrontational tactics to get a message across. White allies had a hard time believing that Trump was anything more than a joke, and treated him as such.They couldn’t possibly believe that bigotry this visceral and this blatant could be real. They view racism as something that exists, yet can’t quite recognize just how ugly and present it can be. Often, allies are more than willing to spread the viral videos and liberal think pieces on their Facebook walls, yet take a step back when it comes to actually confronting what the reality of racial discrimination looks like. White allies like Ginsburg like protest , but a particular kind. The ones that are non-confrontational, the ones that aren’t in your face, the ones that require you to acknowledge that the country you know and love is fair to some and unfair to many others.
In an effort to stifle this discomfort, allies suggest that people of color keep their protests civil, respectable. Often, white allies suggest that if marginalized people remain “civil” and not “demonstrate emotion” during their protests, their cause would come across more sympathetically. They point to civil rights icons such as Martin Luther King (whose legacy they largely misinterpret) as “models” of what protest should look like. Peaceful, feel good, non-threatening. Yet ignoring how even when people do engage in peaceful protest they still aren’t taken seriously, this is an insensitive request to make.People who do not experience discrimination, who do not experience threats against their livelihood, are asking people that do to smile and bottle their emotions, their frustration.
While this discomfort is normal, it’s also necessary to overcome. Allyship is not a cool club jacket you get to wear because you recognize how power and privilege work. Rather, it is a lens through which you view the world. It requires exposure and humility and a willingness to recognize that protest will not always look pleasant, nor should it.
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