President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to ensure delivery of equitable outcomes for all Americans, particularly people of color, women, LGBT persons, and other minorities.
The executive order, issued Feb. 16, sparks fresh debate over what it means for all Americans to receive equal protection under the law.
Biden signed a previous order mandating equity on his first day in office, Jan. 20, 2021, to address “systemic racism in our Nation’s policies and programs.”
This latest order has the broader aim of ensuring equity for religious minorities, women and girls, LGBT persons, and persons with disabilities, among others.
The president directed administrators to form Agency Equity Teams and create Annual Equity Plans to deliver equitable outcomes through government policies, programs, and activities.
That includes ongoing equity training and equity leadership development at all levels of the federal government, and embedding equity into all government processes.
Mixed Reaction
Critics have claimed that equity initiatives subtly shift the government’s focus away from guaranteeing equality under the law to creating an equitable status in life.
Indeed, while the president’s order defines equity to mean fair and impartial treatment of people, the order repeatedly states the aim of producing equitable outcomes.
That echoes a statement made by Vice President Kamala Harris when seeking election in 2020.
Harris said in a Tweet: “So there’s a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests, ‘Oh everyone should get the same amount.’ . . . Equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place.”
Critics claim that is both discriminatory and dangerous.
“Equality means equal treatment, unbiased competition, and impartially judged outcomes. Equity means equal outcomes, achieved if necessary by unequal treatment, biased competition and preferential judging,” Charles Lipson emeritus professor of political science at the University of Chicago wrote in a 2021 op-ed.
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