When I heard of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, my heart stopped with fear. She fought for so long to hold the United States Supreme Court seat and keep Donald Trump at bay. What now? How much more turmoil is my country going to be in?
As an American, the last four years have been hell, because I cannot go anywhere without being ashamed of my country and its president. However, RBG was one of the remaining things I was proud of and now she is gone too.
For a young political science student, RBG was and will always be a queen.
She stood for everything I believe in: equality, kindness and compassion. RBG fought pancreatic cancer, watched her husband battle testicular cancer and fought gender inequality where she faced countless “no’s” because she was a woman.
But through it all, she stayed true to her mission of fighting for women’s rights as well as fighting for equality between all sexes and races.
She showed us that life isn’t as straightforward as romance movies. There’s a lot of hardship and backroads and a lot of battles you will not win. But as long as you do not lose hope and you keep trying, you can get to where you want to go and achieve what you wish to achieve.
RBG brought everyone, the extreme left and the extreme right, together. She turned the heads of sexist male politicians and made them think about their ways. After her death, even Trump said “she was an amazing woman.”
RBG instilled the power within me to keep fighting for what I believe in, even if it seems like a lost cause. The current state of the U.S. and its role in world leadership make my goals of creating forward-thinking climate change policies and promoting equality unachievable.
However, I have to remind myself that RBG was a feminist in the ’70s, where there was little room for a female in the male-dominated political world. If RBG can keep fighting, so can I.
I still hate admitting that I am American and with RBG’s death, I am scared more than ever for the future of the U.S. However, RBG would not want Americans to give up on the goals they set out pre-Trump, for instance, equality. RBG fought so hard the least we can do is honour her by not letting Trump, that bigoted white male, win and dictate our future.
Times may be tough with right-wing politicians overtaking governments and a global pandemic that’s overtaken the world. But even with the current circumstances, we need to carry out RBG’s legacy by continuing to fight for the things she fought for and for all the things that will allow a safer future for all humanity, not just those in the U.S.
As RBG once said in an interview in 2015, “Fight for the things you care about and do it in a way that leads others to join you.”
