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Abstract: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg began her academic career at Rutgers Law School in Newark (RLSN), where she taught from 1963 to 1972. This period was marked by national upheaval and was especially tumultuous for Newark, which in 1967 experienced a civil uprising—referred to by locals as the “Rebellion”—following the police beating of Black cab driver John “J.W.” Smith. The Rebellion left 26 people dead, including 23 Black Newark residents, and caused over $10 million in property damage. It arose from Newark's longstanding political and economic marginalization of its majority Black community, particularly longstanding friction with the predominately White police force. At the time, Rutgers Law School-Newark, located just blocks away from the unrest, had only three Black students and no Black faculty members. This article, based on over 30 interviews with former RLSN students, Justice Ginsburg's colleagues, community activists, and John Smith's brother, examines then-Professor Ginsburg's pivotal role in driving rapid, transformative changes at RLSN in response to the Rebellion. Her efforts helped make RLSN one of the most diverse law schools in the country and introduced live-client clinical education on a broad scale as the school adapted its curriculum to engage more fully with its urban environment. As I will argue, the period from 1967 to 1972 proved not only transformative for RLSN and legal education, but Professor Ginsburg's integral role in these changes provided a critical foundation for Ginsburg to develop her pioneering legal work in gender equality and sharpened her ideas about the importance of diverse and inclusive spaces to foster meaningful opportunities. The ideas and experiences gleaned during this period reverberated throughout her 27 years as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court and offers valuable lessons, particularly for workplaces, as we navigate a post-Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College world—a case accepted by the Court shortly after Justice Ginsburg's death and one that ultimately curtailed racial diversity as a factor in higher education admissions.
“[I am an] insignificant dude, one little pawn.”
- John “J.W.” Smith
“When I grow up, I want to be a Supreme Court Judge. When people say, ‘You honor, he did rob the bank, I will say, ‘Be seated.’ And if he doesn't, I will tell the guard to take him out. Then I will beat my hammer on the desk. Then everybody will be quiet.”
- George Floyd (in second grade)
“[W]e are not far distant from an overtly discriminatory past, and the effects of centuries of law-sanctioned inequality remain painfully evident in our communities and schools. In the wake ‘of a system of racial caste only recently ended,’ [citation omitted] large disparities endure. Unemployment, poverty, and access to health care vary disproportionately by race. Neighborhoods and schools remain racially divided. African American and Hispanic children are all too often educated in poverty-stricken and underperforming institutions. Adult African Americans and Hispanics generally earn less than whites with equivalent levels of education. Equally credentialed job applicants receive different receptions depending on their race. Irrational prejudice is still encountered in real estate markets and consumer transactions.”
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
- Chief Justice John Roberts
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