Equality and Opportunity

I believe in the audacity of equality. By that I mean equality of opportunity. That's an American ideal if there ever was one. And it's never been truly achieved. It's still an aspiration. I don't say that to be pessimistic. But I mean that in a real sense. Equality for all has not truly been achieved in the USA, but we're constantly progressing toward it. Often times, most times, we've led the charge. That doesn't mean we don't have problems to solve. That we've overcome injustice yet. But we're working on it, more than some want to admit. Sometimes in that progression we need to address where the gaps in opportunity are, and any other real injustices. Given the conversation about race, I believe it's a time to have a discussion on the topic. 

I don’t buy wholeheartedly into critical race theory and intersectionality. I believe personal accountability is important. Vital even.

I can hold both of these ideas in my head when I examine race. I can see policies that were enacted with racial purposes. I can see those that weren’t that are still executed in a racial manner. And I can see the lingering effects of generational imbalances and injustices.

I’ll agree with most conservatives that family values, personal responsibility, accountability, opportunity are all aspects of success and upward mobility. Many of us are lucky to have parents, grandparents, mentors who taught us these principles and ideas. They enabled us to have opportunities to learn and grow. To enhance our capabilities so that we could truly be responsible and accountable. To those of us who grew up with this, we need to recognize a large portion of our fellow citizens don't have this in their lives. The first step to equal opportunity is enabling this knowledge (and in a way skill set) in others. Let's go down a rabbit hole to try to do that. 

I think the first place we need to start is looking at equality of education. Especially for children. I know school choice is a vogue for most libertarian and conservative circles. It absolutely has merit. Being able to find schools that meet your individual child's needs. The problem I have with school choice as the answer is it leaves those behind who can't switch. There aren't enough seats to move every kid to the "best" school. We need to maintain our poorer schools too. We need to recognize that some families can't transport children to a different school. Or they don't get it. Families can't afford to move to the better neighborhood. So let's make sure we don't leave them behind. We provide needed supplies, we incentivize good teachers. And for those of us living in these neighborhoods, get involved. Volunteer, coach, mentor. It makes a difference.

Finally we need to recognize that some communities and minorities are policed more than others. Lets look at drug use. Marijuana specifically. It's pretty steady across race and other demographics. But nationally there is huge disparity in race when it comes to arrest. Combine that with an average of a 20% disparity on race in sentencing we're looking a a recipe for continuing a cycle of poverty and poor choices. The fact is there is a different set of consequences depending on your socioeconomic status or race. There just is. The cost of a mistake is greater. 

Recognizing these disparities can inform how we get good ideas to people. How we help people. How we strive to provide equality in our communities. That's all I was trying to demonstrate here. Striving through is the answer. But recognizing how many more obstacles are in front of someone else should inspire charity and compassion in us. How do we remove the most obstacles? When I have been given much how can I give more back? If we looked that way, and listened to people about trials we may not understand, I think we would all be better off.