“What’s the difference between equity and equality?”
This question has been posed by many, especially with the recent uptick in conversations regarding DEI. The definition of equity is often confused for the definition of equality, which is everyone having access to the same things. Equity’s definition is a bit more lucrative than that, which can be summarized as everyone getting what they need to succeed.
When the Northern Iowan staff visited La Jolla, California, for a national journalism conference in the spring of 2024, college students from California were aghast when our staff told them state legislators were attempting to eliminate DEI policies from our regent university. They couldn’t fathom DEI policies being accosted at the level they had in Iowa at the time. Now, this ideology has been brought to the national landscape, with the Trump administration’s first attempt at throttling businesses and universities that implement DEI policies.
When it comes to debates around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices in businesses and education, why are people so against people getting what they need to succeed? Why are people so against integrating inclusion into work and education?
According to Black Student Union secretary, Keymora Douglas, mistaking equity for equality is a matter of visibility. “It’s not about receiving exactly the same things, but the same effort, the same quality, just being treated the same,” said Douglas. “Someone who gets two chocolates, another person gets two, to someone on the outside, that’s equal. But you don’t know if maybe one person’s chocolates are expired. Equity is harder to grasp, harder to see.”
Black Student Union president, Jasmine Allison, agreed with Douglas, but added that an increased lack of empathy could contribute to today’s aversion to equity. “People aren’t as concerned with what other people need, what their neighbor needs,” said Allison. “We often forget that there’s so many things impacting a person from so many different directions.”
The Trump administration has recently called DEI policies “a waste of resources,” as noted on the White House website. Last week, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds addressed a letter to Iowa regent university presidents, including Mark Nook, regarding Trump’s executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” In her letter to the university presidents, Reynolds states, “I trust that your respective institutions will faithfully implement this executive order and the forthcoming guidance from the U.S Department of Education and U.S Department of Justice.”
It’s important to remember that equity isn’t about giving someone an easier time or unfair treatment, equity is about allowing people access to things they need to succeed. Equity is allowing those with a learning disability accommodations in the classroom, it’s federal dollars going to those who need financial assistance after being admitted to a university. Equity isn’t about taking away opportunities from others, it’s about opening up opportunities to everyone. Those who might not have faced political disadvantages in their daily life may not realize why equity is important. “When it does affect your life, you finally realize what equity means,” said Douglas.
The demonization of the words “diversity, equity and inclusion” on a statewide and national level only aim to divide the general public. It’s a very obvious attempt to turn the general public against each other, and make the general public less likely to help one another. The demonization of equity, in an essence, is a demonization of empathy. It might be egregious to ask politicians to feel empathy, but it isn’t an egregious ask for the general public to feel some empathy for their neighbors. Those who have had access to certain opportunities their whole lives, such as President Trump and Governor Reynolds, may see equity as discrimination. For regular people, equity is a way of life.
