The Importance of Supporting Equality of Opportunity

    

We are not equal, and we never will be. In his speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28^th 1963, Martin Luther King said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’  It is not self-evident and we were not born equal, or even created equally by our circumstances.  You will never be equal to me, and I will certainly never be equal to you.  Now before someone yells ‘Get a rope!’ let me explain.

There is a mistaken idea in this country that what we need is equality.  It cannot be achieved.  Prince will never play basketball as well as Michael Jordan.  (Although I have read that he is a good basketball player)  And, Michael Jordan will never be the musician that Prince is.  The children of Bill Gates will have financial and educational opportunities that most people will never even get close to.  And, a child born to a single parent on welfare, living in an inner city slum, will have to struggle just to survive.  It is important to understand this because you and I, and everyone else in this country should have the opportunity to follow our dreams.  We should be judged by our merit, not limited by our resources, be they physical or financial. In that same speech Martin Luther King also said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  He was speaking about equality of opportunity. If there is ever to be any progress, we need to start now.  If we fall down on our own—fine, but we should not be held back by something such as our birth, or lack of finances to get an education.  Peter Vallentyne states this concept in his article in the magazine Ethics April 2002 issue. “Equality of initial opportunities for advantage calls for equality in the value of the initial decision trees that each agent confronts.”

There is a hard thing I need to discuss now, and it’s going to upset a lot of people. Almost every group, or individual, has been persecuted at one time or another.  It is time to get over it.  I think I can safely say that every living person today is the descendant of; a murderer, someone murdered, a slave owner, a slave, a criminal, and a victim.   I’m sure you have heard this quote from the Bible, “The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself." (Ezekiel 18:20)  The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) have even made it their second Article of Faith. “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.”  It is not my intention to have a religious discussion.  I just quote truth where I find it.  I only want to show the logical train of thought, that we should let go the wrongs of the past, and move on to the wrongs that are happening to us as a people here and now.  There are plenty of things to champion and correct now, we do not need to go looking behind us.  If we find discrimination here and now, we should shine the light of truth on it, and cut it out of our society. 

I have one last bone to pick here, and I hope you will endulge me a bit, I think that the whole use of, Asian-American, African-American, etc. is counterproductive.  Through modern research of mitochondrial DNA, it has been found that all homosapiens have descended from one woman in central Africa.  In a very real sense, we Americans are all African Americans.  If you have to use a designation of your immediate heritage use, “of descent,” for example, my father was born and raised in Denmark; I would then say I am an American of Danish descent.  Thank you for your indulgence.  Now to continue.

The first concept we need to understand is, why we are not equal.  Next, how we came to this mistaken idea and how it is hurting us.  And finally, what we can do to achieve equality of opportunity.

We are born unequal, and the gap only widens from there. There are two basic ways we are unequal, physically and mentally.  Aside from the obvious of someone being physically stronger and larger than someone else, there are other differences.  People of African heritage are more likely to develop Sickle Cell Anemia, an inherited blood disorder.  People of Jewish heritage are more likely to develop Tay-Sacks disease, a deterioration of the central nervous system. The list goes on and on.  There are just too many to mention.  According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute pamphlet, Facts about Sickle Cell Anemia, “In this country, (Sickle Cell Anemia) affects approximately 72,000 people, most of whose ancestors come from Africa.  The disease occurs in approximately 1 in every 500 African-American births and 1 in every 1,000-1,400 Hispanic-American births. Approximately 2 million Americans, or 1 in 12 African Americans, carry the sickle cell trait.”  According to the Saint Barnabas Health Care System website on November 5th 2003.   http://www.sbhcs.com/genetics/index.html, “Approximately 1 in 25 Ashkenazi Jews are carriers.  Tay-Sachs is caused by an enzyme deficiency.”

We are also unequal in our mental abilities.  Once again let’s go beyond the obvious of mental disorders and I.Q.  Males and females have long been known to have different abilities in math and science, and although the evidence now shows that the social environment may have more to do with it than previously thought, biology still seems to play a part, in the form of predisposition.  Regardless, the difference is there and just grows larger as time goes on.  According to the National Network for Child Care's Connections Newsletter May 1996, “Until recently, it was believed that all male-female differences in math and science were caused by biology. In other words, girls' and boys' brains are different, so they are better suited for different things. Evidence shows that boys do excel in math, and girls appear to do better in verbal-related skills.”  Also from the above article, “More recently, researchers have focused on the influence of the social environment on children's math and science achievement. Very early on, boys are given the chance to tinker with toys or objects (for example, building blocks, Legos, racing cars, and simple machines) that involve many of the principles inherent in math and science. Girls often lack these experiences, so they enter math and science classrooms feeling insecure about their abilities.”

 

The founding fathers did us a disservice in how they chose to speak of equality.  It was this simple but powerful statement that set us on a course of misunderstanding.  The Declaration of Independence read in congress July 4^th 1776 said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  To be fair, from all I’ve read, the founding fathers meant equality of opportunity.  I believe that if they had known the trouble their statement has made, they would have changed it.  Still, the error is there, and the damage is done.  What it should have said is that all people are endowed with the right of equality of opportunity. The reason that this mistaken idea of equality is so damaging is that it cannot be achieved.  It is impossible for us to become equal.  There will always be inequality in life, but we can strive for equality of opportunity.  I think a Quote from John F. Kennedy (from Brainy Quotes Website 3 November 2003, no date could be found for the quote. http://www.brainyquote.com/) puts this into perspective.  “There is always inequity in life. Some men are killed in war and some men are wounded, and some men are stationed in the Antarctic and some are stationed in San Francisco. It's very hard in military or personal life to assure complete equality. Life is unfair.”

 

            Equality of opportunity is possible and can be achieved.  That equality of opportunity can be achieved is the most important argument for supporting it.  Just by understanding the problem often brings forth the solution.  Irving Kristol said in his book, On the Democratic Idea in America (December 1993), “Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity.”  Because race, religion, ethnic origin etc. are by definition the causes of inequality, they should be taken out of any requirement for receiving help.  The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) seems to be moving in that direction already.  From the NAACP News November 2003, “The NAACP is a constant and effective advocate for issues of immediate concern to all Americans. We are the conscience of America. We take a proactive stance to increase the public's awareness of restraints of freedom, assaults upon civil rights, and barriers to equality.”   While I applaud many of the good things the NAACP, and similar groups have done, in my ideal world, I would like to see them all merge and change their name to the NAADP, (The National Association for the Advancement of Disadvantaged People.) and move to encompass all disadvantaged people.   One benefit of doing this is it will greatly increase the number, and type, of people who would contribute to this cause.  I realize this probably will not happen, but I can dream too.  Ultimately, it would be great to see the IAADP, (The International Association for the Advancement of Disadvantaged People.)  I like to dream big.

Recent research has given us a better understanding of our abilities and the abilities of those individuals we have come to call “Genius.”  It seems that you and I have far more potential than we had previously thought.  You may have heard recently that it takes ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert in most anything.  What I have been able to discern from what I have read, and then contemplated is there are people among us that have a predisposition, for one ability or another, to one degree or another.  That predisposition accounts for a far smaller percentage of our ability than was once previously thought.  Through application of a process called deliberate practice, a slow process, and involves repetition of small and detailed parts of a skill instead of just playing through.  We can make up for our lack of a predisposition.  What it comes down to is, if we want an ability enough to put in the practice, we can most likely have it.  All we have to do is be willing to sacrifice. 

I would like to make a small digression here.  Sacrifice is not a dirty world.  To my way of thinking, sacrifice means giving up something now, for something you want more, later.  In our instant gratification society, we have lost the meaning of this great word.  Sacrifice also gives you a sense of satisfaction when you finally obtain it.  When you work hard for something, it means much more to you. 

One last thing on this point; I realize that equality of opportunity cannot be achieved for everyone all of the time, but we cannot refuse to do nothing, just because we cannot do everything.  Perfection is more of an ideal to strive for, than an expected resolt of our endeavors.  We should do what we can and praise ourselves for the progress. 

If you gain nothing else from this essay, I would like you to remember these three things; we are not equal, that this mistaken idea is part of the problem that is holding us back.  And finally, equality of opportunity will allow all of us the chance to achieve our dreams. 

The beauty of life comes, not from what we get out of life, but from what we put into it.  I’d like to leave you with these words, “I saw a vision of life so wonderful, through dreams realized, journeys accomplished, and potentials fulfilled.”

 

Kail Andersen