What is Equity?

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Wouldn’t it be nice if we were all just treated the same?

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We’ve all thought this at some point.

That the whole world would be fixed if everyone just woke up one day, and there was no more violence, no oppression, based on who someone is, what they look like, their ability.

Bad news is that the scenario isn’t possible, and societal change doesn’t happen overnight.

Good news is, we’re working on getting there!

So, the question is, what can we do in the meantime?

The policy we need, even if temporarily, is equity.

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What is equity?

Good question!

The actual definition is “fairness or justice in the way people are treated,” but that’s a really subjective definition.

The best way I can describe it is treating people how they need to be treated, and acknowledging differences, instead of treating everyone the same.

For example, if everyone got a pair of size five women’s sneakers to run a race, they’d all have shoes, in the same size. Logically, they should have the same shot at running the race!

But, if you do that, you’re ignoring a lot of factors! What size shoe the people wear, if they have arches or flat feet, so on and so forth!

While it may seem like totally fair treatment at first, it’s actually incredibly unfair to make people wear the same shoes, and not understand their differences.

Equity is learning what kids of shoes people need, and making sure they can all run in them.

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Why don’t we just call it equality?

Another good question!

I sort of addressed it above, but let me make it a little more clear over here.

Equality means everyone gets treated the same. They all get one box, and they all SHOULD be able to see the game like that!

Obviously, they can’t! Purple kid can’t see anything over the fence, and is probably having a miserable time.

But, when we think about differences, what makes purple kid unique, and learn how to help him, everyone can have a great time watching the baseball game!

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How does this work in real life?

Obviously, while the two examples might happen in real life, they’re not things that everyone faces constantly.

So, let’s think about ways that it CAN happen in our everyday lives!

Equality is stairs into every building, while equity is having a ramp or lift as well!

Equality is giving everyone the same amount of time to take a test, equity is giving people with processing disorders extra time!

Equity is providing specific protections for marginalized groups (in policy, law, etc.) because you know those people are more likely to be discriminated against.

Equality is charging everyone the same thing for medical procedures, equity is understanding that people have different levels of access to money, and using a sliding scale based on income.

Hopefully you get the idea - that’s not a comprehensive list at all! While I specifically mentioned ability and economic status, there’s a ton of other ways to be equitable every day!

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Conclusion

I hope this cleared some things up - and helped people get a better understanding of why equality is not a perfect system.

Until we can get everyone starting on the same foot socially, we can’t treat everyone the same. We have to adapt to what we have right now, and learn how to be more understanding!

I also hope this gets some people thinking about equity in a different way - it’s a good step on the journey to understanding inequality in society, and how some people aren’t given enough (or proper) resources!

I’d love to hear of any other examples you can think of in the comments, on how we can be more equitable, or things you’ve seen!

As usual, thanks for reading, and I’ll see y’all soon!

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