Justice Ginsburg Presides Over Naturalization Ceremony
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg presided over a naturalization ceremony at the New York Historical Society. Yusif Abubakari, a newly naturalized citizen from Ghana, told the New York Times, “[Justice Ginsburg] came because of me, because of us, and that made me feel so special today.”
Justice Ginsburg “treat[ed] her rapt audience to a history lesson, one crackling with life and liberty. She told them that her own father arrived in this country at 13 with no fortune and no ability to speak English, and yet, she would soon be administering the oath of citizenship to them as a member of the highest court in the land.
In her remarks Justice Ginsburg detailed the evolving history of representation and inclusion, from the preamble to the Constitution to the abolition of slavery to the amendments that allowed women and blacks to vote.
Justice Ginsburg acknowledged that the United States was at its outset an imperfect union, and is still beset by poverty, low voting numbers and by the “struggle to achieve greater understanding of each other across racial, religious and socio-economic lines.”
She urged its newest citizens to vote and to foster unity. “We have made huge progress, but the work of perfection is scarcely done,” she said.
KJ