Equity is just another way of saying dumbing down. Like the many other politically correct euphemisms (integration vs. assimilation; containment unit vs. cage; etc.) it may not have the negative connotation of the original, but that does not change the reality of what it refers to.
Supposedly in the new lexicon of the Left, equity means uniformity: everyone ends up with exactly the same thing. That is, distribution of both the tangible and intangible is not equal but based on some external factor such as group identity or circumstance. That unequal distribution intends to create a uniform result for everyone. The problem is that such vision of equity, of uniformity, does not take into account the uniqueness and diversity of human nature.
Equity may sound nice, but let’s look at the reality. One example comes from Virginia where schools are removing advanced degrees and eliminating advanced math classes. The reason is that there are more of certain ethnic groups (primarily Asian and White) than other ethnic groups (primarily Black) in the advanced courses. This, screams the Left, is not equity.
Other schools remove the requirement of correct answers in math class because some groups find this standard more difficult. Therefore, the Left’s equity demands that we must eliminate that which some students strive for or may have more talent for in order that all will be equal. Essentially the students whose talents may lie with the advanced academics are now punished for having that innate talent or interest.
Other examples come from hiring requirements that mandate a certain number of people with identifying factors be included in employment roles for specific jobs. When current hiring criteria do not create that “equity” those criteria are often changed, removing certain competency factors in favor of other “equity” factors.
So, the best pilot may not be chosen to fly your plane if equity determines factors other than competence to be more important. For example, United Airlines has announced that 50% of the 5000 new pilots it plans to train in the next decade must be people of color. What does that do for the aspirations of those with talent and qualifications who are not persons of color? They can not be fully the person they were perhaps created to be but must dumb themselves down to fit within the equity codes.
The professionals who serve you may have been admitted to their medical or law or engineering or business schools to ensure equity of the class to the detriment of others with perhaps equal or more talent. Your symphony orchestra may not include the most talented musicians if it has an equity code. Your plumber or car mechanic, your children’s teachers, anywhere you look you will see “equity” but perhaps not the best and brightest that could be.
Equity is also discriminatory. When President Biden announced he would select a woman of color for his VP he immediately excluded all men and all women not of color from any consideration. Apparently, he and the Left determined it was OK to leave those people out of any equity distribution, even though many may have been highly skilled and competent, perhaps even more competent than any of those considered.
That is, equity denies equality of treatment. It does not equally consider each individual but rather treatment is based on some identity criteria that awards more or less favorable treatment to certain groups. That is not the same as the equality that is promised and aspired to in America as she has existed for over 200 years.
Equity is also demeaning to those it allegedly intends to help. It assumes that certain categories of people cannot achieve certain things unless they get special advantages. This implies that without such special treatment they are individually incapable of succeeding. Equity does not even consider that different individuals may have different interests and aspirations.
Equity does not believe in the individual. It would rather bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator at which everyone can function with equal result. I like to sing but I cannot carry a tune. I don’t expect to be in a choir but what if I wanted to and equity said I could have a place, taking the place of someone who actually has a voice to sing? Not only is that plainly not fair, but would you really want to listen to that choir? And if the real singer is left out because we want choirs to only be at the level that all can achieve, then doesn’t that punish the real singer for having a good voice?
I can write a coherent sentence. Should I stop doing so because some others cannot? Should Mark Twain or Frederick Douglass or Maya Angelou or Rudolf Anaya have stopped writing because not everyone could write the sentences they could? The answer is NO. For if they had stopped excelling at what they could and did excel at just so that there would be equity among them and other less gifted thinkers or writers, we would all have been left without their wisdom from which we continue to learn.
Americans used to be able to
dream of soaring to and maybe even achieving the greatest heights. The flight of that soaring eagle that we each
could imagine was unique to each of us.
And while some of us dreamed and aspired, and did great things along the
way, some even actually achieved their entire dream. But equity does not allow such dreams or
their reality.
Rather, equity demands uniformity. Instead of letting us soar to heights that only we each can imagine, it forces us all to the ground, like chickens in a coop just waiting for their next meal, all living the same existence but having nowhere to soar.
One of the great promises of America is opportunity – opportunity to be oneself and to aspire to and perhaps achieve one’s dream. It is the promise to soar (or to choose not to soar) as our spirit takes us. Its promise is equality – of opportunity but not necessarily of result.
Equity would make us all the same. It dumbs us all down so that no one shines above the others. There will be no role models to aspire to. There will be no point in following one’s unique dreams or talents. Equity will define us. We will all have exactly the same and will then be exactly the same.
Equality on the other hand demands that each person will be recognized as an individual entitled to equality of treatment and understanding. It refers to the uniform distribution to everyone of the tangible and intangible. In other words, each person receives the same amount of whatever is being distributed, rather than having such distribution be based on group identity or circumstance.
Equality does recognize that each individual’s circumstances, both innate and external, are unique and requires individual responses. But it believes that everyone should get the same opportunity, not more or less of some tangible or intangible distribution based on one’s external identity. It also recognizes the right of the individual to do as he or she chooses with whatever is being distributed.
Equality acknowledges that every individual has his or her own talents, strengths, and weaknesses and that sometimes these may be amplified or diminished by individual circumstances. Equal treatment rewards the strengths and perhaps helps to correct the weaknesses. But it does not try to remake humanity by abolishing the individual in the name of equity.
What equity does is dumb us all down; it demands mediocrity. It destroys American excellence along with its equality. In the end, equity joins the Left’s euphemism words of inclusion and diversity; the three together actually mean discrimination, exclusion and conformity.
Equity is a nice sounding word, but it supports actions that destroy our humanity. That should not surprise us since destruction of the individual is necessary for the “great new world” that the Left seeks to create.
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