RIP: RBG

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was respected by all, even those who didn’t share all her views. She is recognized as one of the handful of U.S. Supreme Court justices who have had an indelible role in shaping the law of the land. Her role in remaking the law of gender equality is on par with Thurgood Marshall’s regarding race.

Another role—that of Great Dissenter—made Justice Ginsburg perhaps the most respected voice in America for government to take a broader role in support for the displaced, the overlooked, the outsiders. As more of our countrymen and women face fire, flood, and disease, as joblessness continues and homelessness looms, as more and more need government’s support, RBG’s dissents, like those of Justices Harlan, Holmes, and Brandeis before her, will become the guideposts to a different vision for our future.

Yet the role that may be the most profound and lasting is Justice Ginsburg as a role model for a generation of girls. Her unsought notoriety brought a vivid awareness of possibility to millions of women. Her ubiquitous presence on social media made her and her status as an unashamedly smart, tenacious, outspoken professional woman a genuine cultural icon.

What other Supreme Court Justice ever became a favored Halloween costume? And it’s certain that many of those girls in their RBG costumes will be heard in schoolrooms, courtrooms, and boardrooms in the future. That’s a legacy.