Empowerment Through Equity

Black Lives Matter! Black Lives Matter! The echoes of these raging shouts could be heard all throughout the USA, when millions of people united to protest against the alleged assault of George Floyd. The #BLM protest was one of the most prominent events of 2020. Millions of people were fighting for equality and justice for George Floyd. But is "equality" what we really need? Is it really the justice that we are looking for? The #BLM protest is just one of the examples where people have united in the past to fight for equality - equality based on colour, gender, caste, religion and many more. I strongly believe, that in the world so diverse, with interests varying from person to person, equality might not be the justice that we are looking for. The time has come for us to change our ideals and instead of equality, start pursuing equity.

WAIT, EQUITY AND EQUALITY ARE DIFFERENT?!

To be honest, even I thought that they were the same thing. But they are worlds apart. Equality means giving every person, no matter how different they are, the SAME VALUE. In other words, it means to give everyone equal amount of resources, irrespective of what they do or don't already have. On the other hand, equity means understanding the fact that all of us are not from the same background. All of us live through different circumstances and struggles. Equity helps in empowering people, regardless of their caste, creed, gender or colour. Empowerment through equity is important in many fields like education, job opportunities, social changes and economic welfare. Equity is to give everyone what they need, what they deserve, even though it might be different for different groups. It highlights the fact, that the world we live in is a mixed bag, full of varying minds and ideas popping out every second.

IS EQUITY FAIR?

Before we talk about whether equity is fair or not, let's see what actually is the meaning of "being fair". We live in a world of labels, where everyone is categorized into groups. Then how can we even imagine to aim for equity or fairness if we ourselves are discriminating people so extensively? To achieve equity we first need to shed all these labels. We need to start seeing humans based on there abilities rather then any other parameters like their gender, caste, race etc. If we define fairness as giving everyone equal, then we expect people to start from the same point, to be in the same boat. Every person in this world has a different history, a different personality and a different way of understanding things. Hence, it is only FAIR that instead of discriminating people on that basis, we learn to embrace our differences and move towards equity.

We live in a world filled with such diverse groups of people, with contrasting views and opinions on each topic - It's IMPOSSIBLE to treat all of them "equally". If anything this COVID pandemic has taught us, it's that change is important. Change in lifestyle, change in how we look at other people and change in how we respect and treat our fellow brothers and sisters. To make this world a better place, we need to let go of the labels pasted on our heads, we need to unite and fight for justice through equity. And as rightly said by the famous physician Naheed Dosani - "Equality is giving everyone a shoe, equity is giving everyone a shoe that fits."