Equality, Equity, and Wokeness
A Guest Post on "Wokeness" caused a stir.
"What next, Peter, a Guest Post from the KKK?"
I am writing about the Guest Post published Friday, "Why I fight wokeness."
Some issues are too hot to address. The question the Guest Post addressed was whether the goal of equity, meaning accommodations for pre-existing disadvantages, is fair, just, and realistic. Equity confronts another American value, that of equality. The instant blowback from the left from Friday's post is a problem for Democrats. Equality and equity raise serious issues of jobs, public benefits, and education. Politics is how we resolve conflicts, but the communication needed to do politics is perilous. No one has standing. Everyone has identity characteristics that both qualify and disqualify. Equity is about measuring out victimization and compensations. Somebody wins, somebody loses. The winners feel entitled, the losers feel cheated. The message of Dr. Martin Luther King, which once unified Democrats, now divides them.
The political right has a message vacuum in which to frame the issue to their advantage: The woke left wants to screw you and other smart, hard-working normal people so they can give your job and tax money to others.
Democrats are conflicted. They want both equality and equity, but talking through the nuances and contradictions triggers opposition from one's friends. The image used in the Guest Post last Friday to explain equity is in widespread use by proponents of equity. It is the example of a just society. The image skirts the problem. Boxes are cheap. There is room for all three of them. No one seems to care that they are avoiding the game box office.
The reality is that no football coach puts tiny people on the defensive line. The Guest Post author taught computer science at the college level. He observed that some people are better suited than others for the punctiliousness and logical rigor of writing code. You cannot stack boxes under bad code. Code either works or it doesn't. Reality is in conflict with Democratic ideology, so the issue festers for the political left.
The Guest Post on Friday was a gift to Democrats. He put the problem of human differences on the table for discussion. Liberty and respect for the individual are core values of Americans. Thomas Jefferson wrote that individuals are free and equal, with autonomy to pursue happiness.
There is an opportunity for a Democratic politician to form a message of nuance on this issue of equity and equality. He or she would reaffirm respect for individuals and liberty as Democratic party values as well as American values. That Democrat will catch hell for it, at first at least. The Democrat would be seen to be downplaying identity and intersectionality. It is possible a White male simply cannot do this. He has White male privilege! He cannot possibly understand! He is defending oppression! It may take a woman of color to open the door. Possibly a LGBTQ woman of color. But once open, there is opportunity for all Democrats to talk about liberty and personal choice. Embrace diversity of the individual, not just of groups.
I am hopeful that Biden chooses not to run for re-election. That would throw open the Democratic primary to several dozen aspirants. There will be TV cameras in New Hampshire exposing Americans to a new generation of Democrats. Some candidates will say the un-sayable. Some of them will rise to the top. Then the hard work of political adjustment and compromise can move forward.
Tomorrow: How Artificial Intelligence deals with messaging on "wokeness.”