I heard a female African American activist speak this summer. She discussed the popular equality versus equity meme. In the first box, 3 boys of different height are standing on boxes trying to see the baseball game over the fence; the short boy can’t. In the second box, they all have different size boxes so they can see over the fence. The activist had a thought-provoking third box labeled “liberation” in which the fence was simply taken down. Lastly, she profoundly added a fourth box, asking, “What are these boys seeing? All we are seeing is their backs. Maybe one of them is looking out into the stands, wondering how he could become a peanut vendor to pay for summer camp. Maybe another one is looking onto the field, wanting to be a team owner. Maybe one of them actually wants to play the game.
Maybe we need to actually ask people what they want and need.”
I heard a female African American activist speak this summer. She discussed the popular equality versus equity meme. In the first box, 3 boys of different height are standing on boxes trying to see the baseball game over the fence; the short boy can’t. In the second box, they all have different size boxes so they can see over the fence. The activist had a thought-provoking third box labeled “liberation” in which the fence was simply taken down. Lastly, she profoundly added a fourth box, asking, “What are these boys seeing? All we are seeing is their backs. Maybe one of them is looking out into the stands, wondering how he could become a peanut vendor to pay for summer camp. Maybe another one is looking onto the field, wanting to be a team owner. Maybe one of them actually wants to play the game.
Maybe we need to actually ask people what they want and need.”
Great point.