Geez, I agree.
Ginsburg family blasts plan to give RBG Award to Musk, Murdoch, others
The family of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and some of the Supreme Court justice’s former colleagues have denounced this year’s slate of honorees for an award that a philanthropic foundation bestows in the name of the liberal icon.
In a statement Friday, the family called the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation’s plans to give its “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award” to conservative billionaires Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch, among others, “an affront to the memory of our mother and grandmother.”
Without specifically criticizing any of the honorees — who also include Martha Stewart, Sylvester Stallone and financier Michael Milken — the Ginsburg family said the foundation “has strayed far from the original mission of the award and from what Justice Ginsburg stood for.” For its first four years, the prize was styled as a “Woman of Leadership” award and presented to individual women of prominence.
“Her legacy is one of deep commitment to justice and to the proposition that all persons deserve what she called ‘equal citizenship stature’ under the Constitution,” the Ginsburg family statement said. “She was a singularly powerful voice for the equality and empowerment of women, including their ability to control their own bodies.”
The decision also drew a protest from a former Ginsburg clerk. Trevor Morrison, a former dean of New York University School of Law, wrote to foundation chair Julie Opperman on Thursday that he found it “deeply worrisome” that the award would go to people who he said “exhibit none of the values that animated the Justice’s career, and none of the things that she herself emphasized when celebrating the inauguration of the RBG Award.”
Ginsburg, a friend of the late Dwight Opperman, a lawyer and legal publisher, was still alive and gave her approval when his family’s foundation decided in 2019 to create an award in her name for powerful women.
The Ginsburgs said they had no involvement in selecting winners and weren’t given prior notice about the award changes, and added that Friday — what would’ve been the justice’s 91st birthday — would be the perfect day for the foundation to course correct.
The Opperman Foundation said Friday it has no response to the calls to amend the award.
Past recipients were Barbra Streisand, Diane von Furstenberg and Queen Elizabeth II. But the foundation this week vaguely explained its decision to honor men as a way to “embrace the fullness of Justice Ginsburg’s legacy.”
It has become a hallmark of elite society events to hand out awards — whose grand names often belie their short histories — in hopes of guaranteeing that the celebrities they honor will show up.
The dispute over the Ginsburg Award is a rare occasion when the actual meaning and mission of one of these prizes has come under question.
Washington’s wealthy frequently use galas and other lavish events to gain social clout.
“Many people who have acquired a lot of money don’t just want to be rich,” said Kevin Chaffee, a senior editor for Washington Life Magazine. “They also want to be important.”
The Opperman Foundation said that this year’s honors would be presented as part of an exclusive three-day event for 100 guests, including a ceremony at the Library of Congress on April 13.
As questions about the Ginsburg Award began to circulate this week, the Library of Congress — recipient of Opperman Foundation gifts of $425,000 in 2022 and $625,000 in 2020, according to tax records — released a statement clarifying that it would serve only as “venue” for the private event, and that “the award is not otherwise affiliated with the Library.”
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2024/03/15/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-backlash/
Do something positive.
| 
