Equality or Equity?
Thursday, July 9, 2020
“Treating different things the same can generate as much inequality as treating the same things differently.” ~ Kimberlé Crenshaw
For those of you who believe equality and equity are similar, you couldn't be any further from the truth. While equality refers to equal sharing and division where everyone gets the same irrespective of their stand, equity refers to fairness, justice and impartiality based on one’s need.
It is a common misconception that it is equality that is fairness but trust me it is equity that is anything but fair. As quoted by Rick Riordan, “Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need.” This world of ours is diverse, everyone one is different and unique and so are their needs. If we were to consider everyone equal then all we do is serve an injustice to those behind in the line. At first, equity might seem to be indecorous to us who enjoy certain privileges but yes equity’s the right choice.
We can see that equity rules over equality in everyday life situations. In a family, food that is served to each individual differs immensely. This is because we take into consideration their needs. Imagine what would've been the condition if the daddy and the baby were served in the same proportion. Here's another situation, in a hospital each person is taken care based on their need. What if we were to treat all of them equally irrespective of their requirement. That would be absurd. Hence what we truly need is a society that serves equity over equality. Unfortunately, in our society it is often equality that triumphs over equity.
This is due to multiple factors like power play, muscle power, corruption and other social evils that have blinded us into believing that fairness is equality. And its deleterious effects are prominently visible in our society. Be it in the field of education, society, health everywhere equity is the only solution for the betterment. Although equality is good, it's time we understood that equity is better.
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