A thread on Equity vs. Equality vs. Justice... Like many of you, I've seen this cartoon used in a lot of articles, presentations, and workshops to illustrate the concept of equity vs. equality. /1

But this article by @EEC_WA presents a concise and thoughtful argument that this image is not depicting equity at all, but instead is white supremacy in action https://medium.com/@eec/this-equity-picture-is-actually-white-supremacy-at-work-59f4ea700509 /2

Among the arguments raised in the article, these stood out to me:
"First and foremost, the shortest boy is positioned as the problem. He needs multiple boxes to see over the fence. He’s the one who is the pathology: he’s literally less than the others."

Imagine 3 people all the same size. The ground beneath them slopes, buckling beneath one so significantly that person cannot see over the fence at all. The foundation on which these people stand is unequal, and that leads to some being able to watch the game, while others cannot.

"As useful as the picture was in starting conversations around “Equality vs. Equity,” we are basically blaming the person for being short, when in reality, we aren’t standing on a level playing field to start. We aren’t *allowed* to stand on a level playing field."

"The unequal ground we are forced to stand on is the aspect of the picture we need to change. Understanding that those boxes are necessary because of the sloping ground is key to undoing white supremacy."

Perhaps it is time to consider using one of these images instead: