Equity, What’s the Fuss?
It baffles me that there is so much dissent about equity in education. Equity is for everyone. It provides all students with what they need to succeed and it differentiates based on individualism. Furthermore, equity ensures that polices, practices, opportunities, and resources are fair for everyone. And let us not equate equity with equality. The two are very different. Equality gives all students the same resources to succeed, and that is not equity. Equity bridges the gap between success and failure, access and exclusion, opportunity and disadvantage. It is what schools need to narrow the achievement gap between Black, Brown and Caucasian students.
The narrative that Black and Brown students are not smart and cannot achieve is just not accurate. Likewise, is the notion that Black and Brown students and their families are responsible for their lack of achievement in schools. Folks, we cannot dismiss systemic racism. It is real. It is historical. We can trace systemic racism to slavery, Jim Crow laws, Japanese Internment Camps and Native American land dispossession. Also, segregation, redlining, and discriminatory housing practices have created racial disparities in communities leading to substantial differences in resources and funding for schools. To dismiss systemic racism as a cause for lack of achievement for Black and Brown students is incorrect. There is a long history of systemic racism in America and schools are not void of it. In education, systemic racism produces low academic achievement in which Black and Brown students do not receive rigorous instruction, have fewer resources and minimal opportunities to take advanced courses. So, is equity needed? Yes. Are those folks who are fussing about equity, fussing for the right reasons? I highly doubt that. And perhaps they do not understand the concept and impact of systemic racism.
Moreover, equity is not just for Black and Brown students. It is for all students regardless of their race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, and ability. Equity is essential for the success of marginalized groups. It levels the playing field for all students. Is this not what we want in education? Do educators prefer that certain students have an advantage over others to succeed? I would like to believe that is not the heart of a true educator.
When I became a teacher, I am certain that I was called to it. I prayed, fasted and asked God to lead me to a career that was best for me and he gave the answer of teaching. I worked hard, loved my students, and was on a mission to help them succeed. Their success was my sole purpose. Everyday wasn’t peachy, however, teaching my students was less about me and more about them. So when I read and hear about folks fussing about equity, I wonder, “what is this fuss really about?” Is it really about equity lowering educational standards or removing systemic barriers to success for students? Is it really about lacking understanding of the difference between equity and equality or that equity may lead to equality? Is it really about reverse discrimination or “perceived” reverse discrimination? Does the fuss have anything to do with lack of student achievement?
In all the reading that I do, I have not found any legitimate reasons for the fuss about equity. And I know folks like to make noise to create a distraction so that the work doesn’t get done, however, students having access, opportunities, and resources is critical to their success or in reaching their full potential. So, again, I ask, about equity, what is the fuss?
