Nowadays, having hard conversations is becoming more of the norm for many. Katrina Currie, a life skills coach, business etiquette instructor, human capital contributor, and human developer, has been having these conversations for years, causing some uneasiness, especially in South Mississippi. She considers the conversations for equality and equity necessary. Remember, Katrina resides in the state that has fought to keep the Confederate flag for decades until its most recent retiring of that state flag. That should provide a gauge on the culture’s climate, ease of systemic oppression and privilege, disregard of addressing minority issues with compassion, and understanding the historical and present-day trauma that has resulted from deep-rooted lashings of pain.
Because of those as mentioned above, some setbacks come with speaking up for equal rights and equitable change. Especially when there is a denial of an outright systemic issue that stems for decades and has made many people comfortable – usually those it has benefited. Going into environments, usually, systems that have been in place for years, and addressing how we must untangle equity, equality, and privilege, can be a challenge.
While equality may render a more eased solution because it is generally defined as treating everyone the same and providing access to the same opportunities, equity digs deeper. It causes for closer examination of the proportional representation (by race, class, gender, etc.) in those same opportunities.
Addressing privilege is not about the desire or demand to take, leave another void, absence, or have a loss privileges. In addressing privilege, there is certainly the reality that there is an unequal and inequitable system that has been an oppressive hindrance for others to gain those same privileges. In short, someone else needs to gain. It is an equal opportunity, the placement with every people group to have representation and access to be what the country, organization, or a company says should be a reality for everyone. If something is promised to everyone but only experienced by a certain group (a particular group of people), they are those who are privileged because that group is dominating what is promised to a whole.
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