Equity Evolving

The arch of history isn’t always kind to the norms of the past. The choices and decisions that were once normal, expected, or rewarded are the same ones we now question, critique, and occasionally even “cancel”. As our understanding of the world and the humans who inhabit it evolve, we are called to make inclusive choices that bring diverse people into the fold. Confronted by these choices well-intended people who hold dominant and non-dominant identities face challenging circumstances as they struggle to keep up with the changing vocabulary, practices, and expectations.  

Equity work has always been hard and never without risk. The decision we must make now is how we lean into that risk and best mitigate the harm we may cause to those who already experience systemic oppression while we learn for ourselves. That learning begins with the understanding that equity work is a constant journey and never a destination. It begins by taking a reflective look at our histories and being open to having our worldview challenged and changed.  

A journey; not a destination.  

Growing up in Sri Lanka, at the tail end of the previous century, I grew up on a steady diet of Bollywood movies which informed my understanding of the world. The hero trope in these movies was almost exclusively masculine, usually fueled with an intense sense of romantic entitlement and reckless abandon. Often the male pursuit- female resistance sequence played out in musical numbers to upbeat music. Trans people were either completely absent or only present as comedic relief. Dark skin was usually associated with the less desirable and the villainous. This was all normal. It was expected. It was rewarded. This system of normality has led to a kind of benevolent and malevolent sexism that too often treads on the rights of women and trans people. 

Two decades and many a mistake later, I consider myself a humble and committed learner vowing to always keep changing as an accomplice to those experiencing systemic oppression. The goal for me was never to not make a mistake, but rather never repeat a mistake. The goal instead was to make new mistakes after doing the best I can to avoid them. Equity work is a continuous process of self-improvement for the sake of the “other”s who experience the world in less productive ways than I do by choice, circumstance, or design.   

The process of humanizing people who have, for too long, lived in the margins as the subject of ridicule is at the center of the equity project. As we shine a light on our collective lived history, we begin to understand more and more people who we have harmed. Growing up in a patriarchal system, for me it was women and the LGBTQ+ community. For the Pope and the Catholic church, it was Indigenous communities around the world. For the colonizing British Empire, it is the broken families who suffered during the Indo-Pakistan partition. For families of White slave owners, it is the descendants of Black enslaved people. There are many more of us… and there are many who have been harmed. 

Historical harm and systemic repair 

As we continue to better understand the experiences of these historically oppressed communities the responsibility to act in the service of repairing historical harm and advocating for their ascendency to full participation in citizenship also changes. This is the evolving nature of equity work. What was deemed necessary or appropriate half a century ago, or even a decade ago may not be anymore. “Queer” was once derogatory and now a term in common use. Diversity and inclusion were once the aspired standard and now it is equity and justice. Pronouns are increasingly a part of an introduction and professionalism is no longer the same as it used to be.  It is our responsibility to recognize these changes and commit ourselves to acting on them.  

A vital component of evolving equity work builds on the courage of early activists from various marginalized communities. Activists such as Audre Lorde, Marsha P. Johnson, and Winona LaDuke were finally able to tell the stories of harm and oppression in their own words and in ways that did not center dominant ideologies. Following on their achieved access to define their own reality these communities were able to speak their truths and advocate for their needs in their own words. It is our responsibility to listen to their words, take them seriously, and adjust the way we continue to do equity work. Anything short of that would be dishonoring their courage.  

Our evolving understanding of equity also includes a clearer articulation of systemic forces that prevent progression toward a more just society. For too long equity work assumed that all it took to create change was individual skill, ability, and motivation to overcome centuries-old prejudice. We now know that we live in systems that have deeply embedded biases that serve as barriers to change even with the best skilled and most motivated advocates for change.  

As new and better research emerges on the methods of classification and their impact on different communities, we are devising better ways of mitigating the effects of old systems that were designed to maintain social hierarchies and new systems that continue to perpetuate harm. The assumptions of homogeneity which informed our thinking are now being contested. Design processes are starting to evolve to intentionally include the needs of segments of the population who were long ignored because they lacked purchasing power. Policy making is beginning to change as voting patterns start changing with previously disenfranchised communities embracing their power. These are just a few examples of the systemic forces that are beginning to shift.  Whether it is in artificial intelligence, medicine and vaccine technology, intergalactic travel, or renewable energy, without an intentional inclusion of historically oppressed people, we run the risk of continuing to inflict old harms through modern technologies. This is precisely why equity work must evolve even as we open new boundaries of human experience.  

Equity evolving 

It is with these important considerations that we at Equity Labs are evolving our own ways of thinking about equity work. In the next few months, we will be rolling out a set of revised and re-designed offerings that attends to the evolving nature of the equity conversation. Backed by contemporary research on diversity, equity, and inclusion, our new design begins with the understanding that sustained change toward a more equitable organization requires that we pay attention to all four levels of organizational functioning: intrapersonal, interpersonal, epistemic, and institutional.  

We honor the dialectical tension between the need for change and the comfort of stability.  

We recognize that individual people are both creators of systems and held captive by them.  

We balance grace with accountability and cynicism with imaginary.  

We refuse to stand still in a changing world. We invite you to do the same.