Equity is balanced justice according to circumstance.
Consideration of circumstance must include social, economic, demographic and geographic factors as well as individual health and well-being.
Justice is affinitive active truth and reason applied with compassion and empathy, and absent any rhetoric, duplicity, contrivance, subservience or expectation. Justice is an ideal. To seek justice, one must have a voice.
Balanced Justice is hearing and understanding all voices equally.
One who is in a position to actively apply (their version of) truth and reason, by virtue of their position has already tainted justice. There is no way completely around one's loyalty (i.e. subservience) to their advantage in a given power dynamic.
Furthermore, (as said), to balance justice, one who is in a position to actively apply (their version of) truth and reason must account for, listen to and understand all voices. Yet it is difficult to hear ALL voices and even more difficult to feel the pain of the powerless, to decipher the cries of the poor, or to hear the silence of the subservient.
So as one of the powerless, the poor, the subservient, the best I can do is work to find a voice then seek tainted justice.
This week I sent the following communication to University leadership:
No one will talk to me about equity.
How is it okay that those making $100,000 or more received an average 5.40% increase and those making less than $20 per hour received an average 0.33% increase?
How is it okay that our “equity experts” received an average 11.10% increase and our student support specialists received an average 2.53% increase?
How is it okay that you, whose names appear as leadership on the University organizational chart, received an average 10.42% increase and custodians received an average 1.77% increase?
How is it okay to talk about $500 million to go toward performance-based pay increases and not tie that into equal opportunity; (i.e. a voice)?
If the distribution for your $500 million is determined by our current process it appears the richer will continue to get richer and the gap will continue to widen.
In your State of the University address given this week you asked, “How do we create a more equitable and just society by using our most innovative ideas, policy and culture?” I am asking the same thing.
Yet no one will talk to me about equity.
I wanted to give this group the opportunity but I will be surprised if this communication results in anything more than additional insistent justification.
Justification is not justice.