What is Equity? Do This. Not That.

I have a confession to make.  I recently watched a Hallmark Christmas movie.  (Yeah, I know.)  But I kind of dug it.  Let me explain.  The show was a variation on the Dickens Christmas Carol theme - you know the one - Scrooge, the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and little Tiny Tim. What was unique was that the movie had color-conscious casting, a practice that is far more inclusive than traditional casting and ensures that movies represent the consumers who view them.

The film featured a Korean actress in the lead, a Hispanic actor as her eventual husband, and a gay male couple as their best friends.  Furthermore, the female lead worked as a top designer in a women-owned advertising agency and the male lead was an inner-city social worker who worked with a diverse group of kids in a community center.  Of course, the movie ended happily but the thing that I was most happy about was how many people could watch that film and say, “Hey, that person looks like me.”

Color conscious casting is certainly not the cure for all of the inequities that we see on television but it seemed like a good start. It is a heck of a lot better than when I was a kid, watching the Brady Bunch. It provided a better mirror of society and a better window into the possibilities of happiness that all of us can achieve.  In short, it was a decent attempt at “equity” in a traditionally one-sided, “white, upper-middle class” medium. As well, considering their past struggles in this area, a deliberate and intentional attempt on Hallmark’s behalf, to be more inclusive of their viewers.

So, what is “equity”?  Let’s take a look at a few definitions: 

• “Fairness or justice in the way people are treated” and “justice according to natural law or right, specifically: freedom from bias or favoritism.” - Merriam Webster
• “Discovering, creating and providing what is required, requested and measured by each human to feel equal.” - H. Walker
•  "Equity is hearing someone's voice about what they need and providing them with that". - Christopher Emdin

These three definitions are pretty simple to understand but have been very hard to implement on a large scale.  As educators, if we want to make a better future for all of our students, we have to do something to make “equity” happen in our classrooms as it will not happen on its own. It starts by acknowledging the problems of inequity in our classrooms on both the conscious or visible level as well as on the unconscious or invisible level. It continues with daily decisions and actions that address the problem head-on. “Do this and not that!”

We are all born with equal potential in an unequal world that stacks up against us quickly.

In our book, Equity by Design, Katie Novak and I state that “we are all born with equal potential in an unequal world that stacks up against us quickly” and that “we have to acknowledge that our students witness and experience hate, discrimination, marginalization, and apathy based upon race, sexual and gender identity, homelessness, religion, socioeconomic status, immigration, language, and disability both inside and outside our schools”. 

Our classrooms have to be places where these things don’t happen! Instead, we need to create safe spaces where our young people can grow and thrive, regardless of their backgrounds or identities.  The trouble is, that isn’t always intuitive and sometimes, it takes assessing what our instinct is, thinking about the barriers it could bring up for some of our kiddos, and intentionally doing something else. Here is a list of dos and don’ts to help you get started. 

This list is hopefully just a start for you on your journey toward equity in your school or classroom.  

For more information please refer to the resources below.

Resources

• Equity by Design, Chardin and Novak. “Every student,” Mirko and Katie insist, “deserves the opportunity to be successful regardless of their zip code, the color of their skin, the language they speak, their sexual and/or gender identity, and whether or not they have a disability.” 
• ACTION FOR EQUITY is a program of Equal Opportunity for Schools, a Seattle based non profit whose vision is:  “When our highest learning opportunities are equitably accessible, our highest human potential is unbounded.”  Their website outlines the services they provide.  They concentrate on Access opportunity, Experience success, Extend equity, Equity leader lab, Sustain equity.
• The Boys and Girls Club of America has a great perspective on this topic as they have lived it!  “Equity is one of the most complex issues our world is navigating, so it’s important in a youth setting to make it easy to understand and, ideally, act on: What does an individual need to feel their best and do their best? And when we meet those requests, does the group function better as a whole?”