This was published 7 years ago
Ruth Bader Ginsburg dismays fans with dismissive comments on Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest
By Caitlin Gibson
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is known for speaking her mind. It's the very quality that has made her something of a living icon lately – especially for young, liberal women who count themselves as superfans.
But the Supreme Court justice's dismissive comments about Colin Kaepernick and the other athletes who are dropping to their knees during the national anthem – their silent protest against racial bias and police brutality in America – has left much of her devout following reeling.
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she didn't misspeak about Donald Trump.Credit: AP
Is this the end of their long-time love affair with "Notorious RBG"? Or are fans just realising they've maybe been projecting a little too much of their own world view on a fiercely independent jurist?
For many of her fans, it seems incomprehensible that the same woman who has penned such fiercely liberal and quotably eloquent decisions advocating for the rights of women, minorities, gays and transgender people would go against the grain of their own thinking on the national anthem protest.
Abbi from Broad City dresses up as Ruth 'Notorious RBG' Bader Ginsburg.Credit: Comedy Central
In an interview for Yahoo, Katie Couric asked the 83-year-old jurist what she thought about the athletes choosing to kneel. Ginsburg's answer was blunt: "I think it's dumb and disrespectful." She emphasised that of course such actions should be protected by law – as they are – but added that she didn't agree with the protesters themselves.
"If they want to be stupid, there's no law that should be preventive," Ginsburg said. "What I would do is strongly take issue with the point of view that they are expressing when they do that."
For liberal fans, who tend to support Kaepernick's protest as well as the Black Lives Matter movement, these were jarring words. Some promptly declared the end of Ginsburg's reign as the "Notorious RBG" – the affectionate nickname that riffs on late rapper Biggy Smalls, aka The Notorious B.I.G.
The "Notorious RBG" meme was always a bit cartoonish; it first took off in 2014 after Ginsburg read aloud a fiercely-worded, 35-page dissent to the court's Hobby Lobby ruling, which affirmed that owners of for-profit businesses don't have to offer birth control coverage if it violates their religious beliefs.
The meme quickly went viral; soon, "Notorious RBG" was on t-shirts and adult colouring books, emblazoned on smartphone cases and bookbags, and the concept behind a best-selling tribute book.
So the backlash hit pretty hard. The dream was over, many Twitter users declared – there would be no more cartoon gifs, no more 'RBG' swag, no more viral photos of adorable infants dressed as 'Ruth Baby Ginsburg' for Halloween, no more prancing cartoon RBGs shooting righteous rainbows from her fingertips.
Some critics, including Kaepernick himself, charged that Ginsburg's thoughts on the matter epitomised "white feminism" – a failure to recognise or champion causes that affect women of colour and other marginalised groups.
"I wish I could dismiss Ginsburg's comments as a one-off," Jessica Mason Pieklo wrote in Rewire. "But I think they reflect a truth progressive white feminists need to deal with: Far too often, race isn't centred in our political and cultural analysis, even if we believe it to be."
On Friday, Ginsburg released a statement saying her comments were "inappropriately dismissive and harsh" and that she had been "barely aware of the incident or its purpose" when she chose to weigh in.
But for many fans, her comments were a reality check from which there is no going back.
The Notorious RBG was never more than a caricature, a glorified distillation of a complicated public figure. Now, Ginsburg's fans have been forced to refocus on the three-dimensional version of her, the one who exists beyond pithy quips printed on a coffee cup. The one with whom they won't always agree.
The Washington Post