Wow! Was I ever wrong! I looked up Webster’s definitions for equity and equality and wrote today’s post and sent it off to my in-house editor.

“That’s confusing,” he said. “You don’t define equity and equality.”

A bit smugly, I pointed to the dictionary definitions at the top of the article. “I think you skipped over this,” I said.

He read the definitions again. “I didn’t skip that. It’s just not the way equity is being defined today. Your article isn’t relevant.”

He was so right. I had done what I often do; I ‘d filtered my thoughts and words through my own lense of experience, applying my beliefs and my assumptions. I cherish the wording of our constitution and get wrapped up in the beauty of freedom and equality under the law. Prior to this revolutionary document, the law was a ‘respecter of persons’ treating people according to their wealth and social standing, regardless of the truth.

Now equality under the law is not enough for the powerful movements and ideologues committed to destroying our country. They are demanding we create equity for all. When I went back to my computer to re-write this post, I searched on “equity vs. equality” and got educated; Webster be damned.

Multiple images illustrated three individuals, of varying heights, trying to watch a ballgame over a high fence. From changing the height of the stools to removing the fence entirely-the fence represented systemic barriers-the images demonstrated the concept of providing specific resources to meet each individual’s needs so all three could gain an unfettered view of the game.

The real definition of equity today has strayed far afield from the dictionary, which states: Equity is the quality of being fair or impartial. Quoting from Robert Longley on ThoughtCo:

Equality refers to scenarios in which all segments of society have the same levels of opportunity and support. Equity extends the concept of equality to include providing varying levels of support based on individual need or ability. https://www.thoughtco.com/equity-vs-equality-4767021

We note the focus on equal outcomes in this quote from public health education in academia:

Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/

Please read that last sentence very carefully because it is being promoted as a potential reality, but it is a fantasy. Yet, progressives in league with many others are pursuing this unrealistic goal and transforming our nation in the process. Equity, as defined today, is based in utopian delusion. It is dangerous and goes against the very thing it pretends to protect, individual freedom.