Rounding Up: Equity versus equality
A quick look at what has caught my eye recently:
*As someone who pays obsessively close attention to language and word choice, I’ve found the recent discussion of the Biden administration’s emphasis on “equity” over “equality” interesting. This usage of equity denotes recognizing and accounting for unfair structural disadvantages. The definition seemingly plays on the idea from the legal world that special considerations are often necessary for balance when remedies prescribed by common law fall short of just outcomes. The implication is that you can’t have true equality without addressing inequity first.
If the administration holds onto equity as a cornerstone of its rhetorical framework, I’d view that as a step forward. It carries a degree of precision that cuts through some of the just-vague-enough code words that usually come up around touchy subjects. However, I do wonder if that definition resonates enough to be useful for communicating with the broader public. (It’s also the kind of framing that tends to make White people bristle.)
*For all the talk about government’s role in curbing climate change, the reality is that institutional investors probably carry an even bigger stick when it comes to forcing companies to cut their emissions.
*It’s hiring season in the NFL, which means the annual conversations about the lack of Black head coaches around the league are coming up. This has a tendency to turn into a crusade on behalf of one coach who’s portrayed as a victim of racism – in this case, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy. But this is not an issue of an exceptional candidate being held back by race.
Frankly, the individual circumstances of Bienemy’s case matter far less than probing why there are so few Black head coaches around the league. His predicament reflects a larger problem.
*The death of legendary college basketball coach John Chaney offers an opportunity to revisit one of the best profiles in sportswriting history by Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated.
*The Covid Tracking Project is going dark in March. The people behind this effort deserve so much public gratitude for stepping into the role voluntarily when the federal government shirked its responsibility to keep us informed.
*Zeynep Tufecki has done some of the most insightful work you’ll find on the coronavirus pandemic. She recently wrote about processing information into knowledge and how that shaped her analyses of developments in the last year.
*One more from the rapidly growing Substack genre: economist Noah Smith discusses the effects of short-selling – or lack thereof – on financial markets. Personally, I’m skeptical of the purported economic benefits of derivatives in general.
