Fifty-two years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, deciding 7-2 that the Constitution protects the right to have an abortion. When they presented to the Supreme Court, Sarah Weddington was 26 years old, and her co-counsel, Linda Coffee, was 28. At that time, women comprised only 6 percent of all Americans who identified as lawyers or judges. As of 2023, that percentage has increased to 40.6 percent (see Table 1).
Table 1. Lawyers by Race, Ethnicity, and Sex: 1970 and 2023
Source: 1970 Decennial Census and 2023 American Community Survey.
Weary, But Not Defeated
A gospel song by James Cleveland describes my feelings in this moment.
I don’t feel no ways tired – means I’m feeling really tired, weary of it all.
I’ve (women have) come too far from where I (we) started from. Women had made gains in the legal profession and higher education (see Table 2). While the Executive Orders and the election results feel like a setback, women in general, but marginalized and racialized women in particular, have a long history of providing for our communities when the government has failed to do so. I encourage you to read “Black Women in the United States and Unpaid Collective Work: Theorizing the Community as a Site of Production,” by Nina Banks, which provides examples.
Nobody told me that the road would be easy. But dang!
Table 2. Americans with Bachelor’s Degree or Higher by Race, Ethnicity, and Sex: 1970 and 2023
Source: 1970 Decennial Census and 2023 American Community Survey.
Building Tables and Providing Chairs
I was recently reminded of a quote by Shiley Chislom, which Donna Brazile says was advice given to her by Chislom:
“She said, ‘If you wait for a man to give you a seat, you’ll never have one! If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.’”
In the coming years, we must not only bring our own chairs but also build tables and offer chairs to those who reflect the diversity, equity, and inclusion we seek.
