As we told you yesterday, one thing to look for today as the memorial service begins for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be how the media avoids her record on hiring Black law clerks:
It's also hard to ignore how RBG only had 2 Black law clerks over her decades as a judge. https://t.co/0lWIXWE3x5
— Bruce Coleridge-Taylor Wright (@bctw) September 23, 2020
From Newsone:
Black law clerks. All two of them
But that high praise for Ginsburg infamously resulted in part with her having only had two Black clerks in total during her decades as a judge. That included one clerk during her 13 years on the D.C. Circuit Court — a duration where the National Review reminded its readers “she had never had a single black law clerk, intern, or secretary. Out of 57 employees, zero blacks.” That unfortunate trend continued after she became a Supreme Court Justice, when she “hired only one black clerk among the more than 100 clerks she has had.”
But right on cue, the media is just pretending the optics of this are not on full display:
Incredible @dougmillsnyt photo of 100+ former RBG law clerks lining the steps of the Supreme Court as honorary pallbearers https://t.co/Mx37byuzcN pic.twitter.com/rjMfOQzzc1
— Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja) September 23, 2020
It’s OK to point it out, you know:
NEW: Law clerks who served under Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, are all gathering outside of the #SCOTUS to honor her life. #RuthBaderGinsburg #RBG pic.twitter.com/M9zOVfxFcE
— Jake Whittenberg ? (@jwhittenbergK5) September 23, 2020
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Someone who did point it out was Christian Mitchell, the Deputy Governor of Illinois: “Equally moving to see the jarring lack of ppl of color.”
Incredibly moving watching the army of #RBG’s clerks escorting her body to lie in state.
Equally moving to see the jarring lack of ppl of color. Even in a life that did so much for us and for women, who are well repped.
We’ve got much work to do to be in the halls of power.
— Christian Mitchell (@cljmitchell) September 23, 2020
And “Even heroes have blindspots”:
My tweet didn’t discredit her; noting how much she did for POC! ?
I take your point Marti but split focus is ok. Take Thurgood Marshall, who hired more than a dozen female law clerks, including Elena Kagan. That’s 12 times RBG’s clerks of color. Even heroes have blindspots.
— Christian Mitchell (@cljmitchell) September 23, 2020
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Related:
Will journos notice RBG's race problem at her funeral? https://t.co/NEmMXjI36M
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 22, 2020
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