Equality, Equity and Justice, OH MY!

Equality: the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.

Equity: the quality of being fair and impartial.

Justice: based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair.

(from Merriam Webster)

We are continually intrigued by the way these three words are thrown around, confused and compared.

On social media yesterday, Oni Blackstock posted this clarification, using this new government service of four free Covid tests per household. It is such a perfect example of the nuances and importance:

Equality: giving every household the same number of tests

Equity: adjusting number of tests given based on household size, medically vulnerable members, etc

Justice: free tests for all, accessible for all

Do you see the difference?

Do you see why we cannot settle for anything but justice?

If you don’t, read it again, and again until you get it.

Otherwise, you are part of the problem.

We are living through a global pandemic going into the third year- in one of the richest countries in the world. The fact that at minimum, there are not free, accessible tests is a huge wake up call to the priorities around us- justice not being one of them.

But it is ours and we will keep on fighting.