Equity and fairness: Who is in and who is out?

Was this fair? Of course not, neither was it equitable. Is there a deeper examination that would also ask who was attending and graduating from high school in the 1940s then going to college and who was excluded from even a high school education? Absolutely.

In 1950, my grandparents made the decision, as many Americans have done before and after them, to change their family name, to whitewash it and melt into our melting pot. My grandmother once told me they had selected Fields because it started with an F, sounded nice, and like nothing.

When a society demands that people change who they are in name, in dress, in language and other ways, we clearly cannot believe ourselves to be either fair or equitable.

For me, and other Ashkenazi Jews (of Eastern European extraction), our family histories in America are ones of navigating discrimination in school, work and housing. And yet, today, in many ways, we live as part of the dominant group — as White, Caucasian people. No school, employer or landlord has ever asked me my religion and, legally, they cannot. Even here in San Mateo, just a handful of decades ago, my family would have been excluded from purchasing a home in certain neighborhoods or joining certain organizations or clubs.

Being part of the majority group took the erasure of name along with some practices and still does not fully get my people into a space of complete acceptance. However, we do find ourselves in a space of relative comfort as compared to other minorities in the U.S. That said, this time of year, I am often reminded of our not quite in group status when I must request vacation days for the holiest of days in the Jewish calendar — that of Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish new year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). If you oversee any kind of organizational calendar, please try your very best to not schedule events on these days, which are Friday evening, Sept. 15 to Sunday evening, Sept. 17, and Sunday evening, Sept. 24, to the following evening on Monday, Sept. 25.

I share all of this as an attempt to delve into deeper understanding of one another. What stories do we know or even more likely, not know, about one another that could help us better match the opportunities of today? Often fairness or equality simply means everyone is treated the same exact way, regardless of need or any other individual or group difference. Whereas equity, on the other hand, means everyone is provided with what they need to succeed. Once we start acknowledging the systems and built-in histories along with current realities of bias, a more fair and equitable world is possible. We can identify and utilize paths to improved universal experiences without the necessity to melt into the dominant group, which is not available to everyone anyway.

How would your family or personal story be different or exactly the same without the pressures to conform and blend in with the dominant culture in our society?

Sarah Fields is the director of Community Engagement and Public Affairs for LifeMoves, the largest homeless services provider in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. She serves on the San Mateo Parks and Recreation Commission as well as the Peninsula. Multifaith Coalition’s Board of Directors. The views expressed here are her own.