3 Initiatives Promoting Gender Equity In American Society
Discover the Impactful Organizations Calling for Change that fosters Equity in the United States
Taking it to the Street
Inequality based on socialized rules regarding gender, race, and sexual orientation is a scorching topic these days, especially in the political arena.
There is no doubt that the progress made up to this point regarding equality in America has been painfully slow, moving at a snail's pace compared to other social movements of similar size and stature.
But, even though the journey has been loaded with twists and turns, big wins and regretful losses, we have seen some changes come to fruition for equal rights in the U.S.
This is why, in today's post, we will be taking a closer look at the top three initiatives actively holding our politics accountable and making the necessary noise to keep Congress on its toes.
These crusaders are seen as all-star activists because they continuously invest precious time and resources to further progress and keep the light that illuminates the path forward burning bright, helping society find its way out of the darkness and into the light.
These practitioners of peace do it all in the name of creating a culture where men, women, and non-binary alike will be able to prosper, being recognized on the merit of their talents and skills rather than being judged for being outside of the realm of what is accepted as "the norm."
Gender Equality in the Workplace
Work is something many of us can find common ground; however, when it comes to promotions and earnings, women make an average of 16% less than men do in the workplace, making 84 cents on the dollar.
In rural areas, the disparities grow even deeper for women of color. They make an average of just 56 cents on the dollar compared to their white male co-workers.
There is a guiding light of hope thanks to organizations like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID.)
This heavy-hitting promoter of workplace equity is burning the midnight oil, fostering the ideals of empowerment and strength for women in the workplace.
Especially in industries rife with male-dominated equity gaps.
Their goal is to pour fuel onto the burning fire that powers the movement towards social development that ultimately stimulates the economic growth for women who work a 9–5 to make ends meet and bring more women into leadership roles in the corporate sphere of employment.
DEI in Education
There has been a lot of debate over the recent controversial decision made by conservative states, such as Florida, to ban government funding for DEI programs in public institutions, such as universities.
For those of you who need to learn what DEI stands for, it is the abbreviation for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Until recently, many colleges across the U.S. had programs dedicated to these critical issues to bring access and opportunities in secondary education to marginalized groups who have historically been shut out of higher education.
With such widely criticized opinions about DEI from both sides of the aisle in the congressional space, we are thankful that there are still organizations that dedicated their time and energy to opening the doors of higher education to those who otherwise may have been cast aside because they are from a socially underrepresented community.
One organization leading the campaign for more socially inclusive classrooms and lecture halls is The National Education Association.
This organization is running 3 million strong with many activists, educators, students, parents, and socially conscious individuals who band together in the name of inclusivity in education.
Their mission is to make the opportunity accessible to any student who desires to pursue higher education and to offer public education to students. Hence, they can carve out their life path with better outcomes for socially diverse and prominently marginalized people.
We should all be able to seek out and engage in education without the fear of meeting structural roadblocks.
Seemingly endless streams of red tape stop a socially diverse mix of individuals from entering a field of study of their choosing.
The NEA is at the forefront of the fighting, taking the challenge of breaking down the structural barriers designed to keep the public higher education system one that caters to the white, middle-class Americans who are overrepresented on the registrar year after year.
Social Justice, Meet Criminal Justice
Another segment of American culture that has been under fire in recent years is the fatally flawed judicial system that belongs to our country. The disparities that have been studied and with great scrutiny, resulting in empirically stated facts, are hard to ignore.
In today's prisons, we see a trend that African American males are grossly overrepresented, and their length of stay in America's jails and prisons is dramatically lengthier than those of white males sentenced to jail time.
Triggered by the "Get tough on crime" sentencing guidelines introduced during Clinton era politics, the term "Mass incarceration" was coined to encapsulate the overarching issue that is faced within our criminal justice system.
The harsh sentencing guidelines that translate to exceedingly long mandatory minimums for drug offenses, paired with the three strikes laws in states like California, the rate of incarceration in this country dramatically outweighs that of any other industrialized nation on the planet.
Currently, there are a whopping 1.9 million individuals locked up in American jails and prisons, 803,000 people on parole, and an egregious 2.9 million people on supervised probation.
These staggering numbers are unrivaled by other developed countries.
They will grow until we profoundly change who and how we sentence those introduced into the criminal justice system.
The overwhelming number of Black and Brown people who are caught up in the revolving doors of this faulty system is just as overwhelming and calls for action to stop these trends have been growing exponentially in recent years.
One such advocacy group is the NACDL or the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
This foundation is a leader in the push for criminal justice reform. The NACDL has nearly 9,000 direct members and 90 state, local, and international affiliates.
Its roster includes criminal defense attorneys, law professors, judges, and other professionals who coexist within the criminal justice system and see the injustice that propagates like clockwork inside America's courthouses in all fifty states.
The Potential
When we consider the implications of keeping things on an even keel for every American, there is limitless potential for every group represented by a living, breathing human to improve their quality of life.
We step away from our past transgressions to create opportunities for the future and set an example for the incoming generation of leaders.
There is nothing wrong with letting everyone get a piece of the pie, and the longer we drag our heels, slowing down what should have been in practice already, we demonstrate a stubbornness reminiscent of a toddler throwing a tantrum in a supermarket aisle.
Equity should not be something people should have to earn; it should be an inherent right given from the moment we are born into this world. Black, White, Brown, or Yellow, we are all human, and the blood that courses through our veins is the same color.
With advocates like the ones we discussed today, I feel confident that progress will continue to grow and people will accept a new way of life, a life where society is, and our country can indeed be the land of the free.
