If you start paying attention to what "intersectional feminists", social justice activists, and in increasing numbers more and more corporations are saying, you'll probably start noticing that they are fond of using the word "equity" instead of the word "equality". (Likewise they may use the word "equitable" instead of the word "equal".)
This is not a coincidence, nor is it just them trying to sound fancy and academic, nor is it just a buzzword. (Well, it is a buzzword, but not in the sense of being a completely meaningless word. It has a very concrete and deliberate meaning.)
Because the average person doesn't know what "equity" really means, and may think it's just another way of saying "equality", they may be fooled into agreeing with a sentiment that uses that word (like "our company strives for equity for all people"). The actual meaning is a bit like surreptitiously sneaked in, without he average person noticing.
"Equity", in the context of sociopolitics, does not mean the same thing as "equality". In fact, in some ways it's the polar opposite of equality.
In sociopolitics, equality means, as the word implies, that every person is treated equally before the law and before society. The law is the same for everybody, and everybody has the same rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities. Nobody should be discriminated against, nor should anybody be given special privileges, based on external innate characteristics such as sex, race, sexual orientation, and so on and so forth. Everybody is offered the same public services and the same opportunities, and everybody is treated equally in things like school enrollment and hiring. Your success in life and society is merely a product of your actions, not a product of what you are. An equal society is one where everybody has the same opportunities to become successful, via their own actions and work.
"Equity", on the other hand, is pretty much the opposite of all the above: People are divided into groups based on external innate characteristics such as sex, race, sexual orientation and so on, and people are treated differently depending on which such group they belong to. People are given special privileges, rights, responsibilities and guilt based on the group. These groups are (rather arbitrarily) assigned an "oppression status", and the amount of special treatment or discrimination is done based on how "oppressed" the group is deemed to be (by some arbitrary undefined standard). Your success in life and society is no longer dependent on your actions, but on your oppression status, ie. which group you belong to. For example, you are more likely to be hired if you belong to a certain group than to another.
When a company engages in "equity", no longer does it hire the most competent and qualified people, but instead it starts looking at the external innate characteristics of the applicant, such as skin color or sex, and these characteristics will affect hiring decisions, favoring some people and discriminating against others based on those characteristics. A less qualified person may be chosen instead of a more qualified one, based on things like skin color. Likewise some people within the company may get promotions and salary raises more easily based on things like skin color or sex, over actual merit and achievements.
So, the next time you hear or see the word "equity" (or "equitable") being used, be aware of what it actually means.
This is not a coincidence, nor is it just them trying to sound fancy and academic, nor is it just a buzzword. (Well, it is a buzzword, but not in the sense of being a completely meaningless word. It has a very concrete and deliberate meaning.)
Because the average person doesn't know what "equity" really means, and may think it's just another way of saying "equality", they may be fooled into agreeing with a sentiment that uses that word (like "our company strives for equity for all people"). The actual meaning is a bit like surreptitiously sneaked in, without he average person noticing.
"Equity", in the context of sociopolitics, does not mean the same thing as "equality". In fact, in some ways it's the polar opposite of equality.
In sociopolitics, equality means, as the word implies, that every person is treated equally before the law and before society. The law is the same for everybody, and everybody has the same rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities. Nobody should be discriminated against, nor should anybody be given special privileges, based on external innate characteristics such as sex, race, sexual orientation, and so on and so forth. Everybody is offered the same public services and the same opportunities, and everybody is treated equally in things like school enrollment and hiring. Your success in life and society is merely a product of your actions, not a product of what you are. An equal society is one where everybody has the same opportunities to become successful, via their own actions and work.
"Equity", on the other hand, is pretty much the opposite of all the above: People are divided into groups based on external innate characteristics such as sex, race, sexual orientation and so on, and people are treated differently depending on which such group they belong to. People are given special privileges, rights, responsibilities and guilt based on the group. These groups are (rather arbitrarily) assigned an "oppression status", and the amount of special treatment or discrimination is done based on how "oppressed" the group is deemed to be (by some arbitrary undefined standard). Your success in life and society is no longer dependent on your actions, but on your oppression status, ie. which group you belong to. For example, you are more likely to be hired if you belong to a certain group than to another.
When a company engages in "equity", no longer does it hire the most competent and qualified people, but instead it starts looking at the external innate characteristics of the applicant, such as skin color or sex, and these characteristics will affect hiring decisions, favoring some people and discriminating against others based on those characteristics. A less qualified person may be chosen instead of a more qualified one, based on things like skin color. Likewise some people within the company may get promotions and salary raises more easily based on things like skin color or sex, over actual merit and achievements.
So, the next time you hear or see the word "equity" (or "equitable") being used, be aware of what it actually means.
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