LESSON ONE
I Voted

LESSON ONE
I Voted

“Equality is giving everyone a shoe. Equity is
giving everyone a shoe that fits.”
  – Dr. Naheed Dosani
Images Courtesy of SELMA INTRODUCTION ACTIVITIES LESSON TWO

Key themes

Equality vs. Equity

Participants will analyze scenarios of social injustice and determine both an equal and an equitable way of combating these injustices.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:
  • Describe and define the historical moments of the development of the Voting Rights Act
  • Synthesize primary and secondary sources around the issue of voting in America
  • Evaluate the current state of the Voting Rights Act
  • Identify key differences between equity and equality

There are two activities in this lesson.

Image Courtesy of NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Key themes

Equality vs. Equity

Participants will analyze scenarios of social injustice and determine both an equal and an equitable way of combating these injustices.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:
  • Describe and define the historical moments of the development of the Voting Rights Act
  • Synthesize primary and secondary sources around the issue of voting in America
  • Evaluate the current state of the Voting Rights Act
  • Identify key differences between equity and equality

There are two activities in this lesson.

Image Courtesy of NATIONAL ARCHIVES

LESSON ONE

Introduction

When thousands of women dressed in white marched down Washington D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue on March 3, 1913, their Suffragist rallying cry for equality was loud and clear, “Votes for Women.” While the 15th Amendment in 1870 gave Black men the right to vote, women, specifically White women, waited 50 more years for the same opportunity to cast their ballots. Most Black women in the U.S. would continue to fight decades for voting equity. While the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, Black women still had to contend with poll taxes and literacy tests that kept them and others in their families from exercising their right to vote in many states.

Equality refers to everyone receiving the same resources regardless of their specific needs, whereas equity refers to people receiving resources based proportionally upon their specific needs, resulting in a more level playing field. Efforts aimed at creating equality rarely result in societal changes because they incorrectly pre-assume a level playing field.
The words equity and equality are often used interchangeably, but the words have important practical and philosophical differences.

Equality

is often based in quantity and is contextually neutral: If “women” have the right to vote, then all women can vote.

Equity

is rooted in access, attainability, and removal of barriers: While “women” gained the right to vote, Black women still faced significant policy barriers that essentially denied them the ability to vote.

Equity

understands that individual, historical, institutional and systemic circumstances have impact on a person’s access: A voter in an area with reduced polling sites might only be able to leave work for one hour, and the long voter lines could cause the voter to lose their job if they choose to stand in line to vote.

Equality

assumes identical experiences, paths, resources and opportunities amongst people: Information about how to vote is available to all, so all can vote.

Equality

is often based in quantity and is contextually neutral: If “women” have the right to vote, then all women can vote.

Equity

is rooted in access, attainability, and removal of barriers: While “women” gained the right to vote, Black women still faced significant policy barriers that essentially denied them the ability to vote.

Equality

assumes identical experiences, paths, resources and opportunities amongst people: Information about how to vote is available to all, so all can vote.

Equity

understands that individual, historical, institutional and systemic circumstances have impact on a person’s access: A voter in an area with reduced polling sites might only be able to leave work for one hour, and the long voter lines could cause the voter to lose their job if they choose to stand in line to vote.

As Dr. D-L Stewart says in his seminal work, Language of Appeasement, our goal should be “…to make equity and justice the yardstick by which leaders measure progress…”

Journalist Tabbye Chavous expounds on the equity of the American vote when she writes, “Given the documented successes of the [Voting Rights Amendment], it is all the more troubling that the Supreme Court, in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) sharply limited the scope of the VRA, dismantling critical elements that had increased voting participation. This court decision also spurred the enactment of long-stalled state-level policies designed to suppress voter turnout and disenfranchise minoritized populations across the nation.”

So did the Voting Rights Act provide an equitable opportunity for all voters, or are Americans operating under the false pretense that equality and equity are the same?

LESSON ONE

Activity I.

Analyze Social Injustice Scenarios for Equality and Equity Outcomes

Procedure

Download and complete the student-led activity: Participants may complete the student activity either in groups or as a whole class. Additional links are provided for primary and secondary sources to help answer the questions.

After 20 minutes of working on this activity, click “PLAY” to view the answers. All participants should write the answers to all questions.

Procedure

Download and complete the student-led activity: Participants may complete the student activity either in groups or as a whole class. Additional links are provided for primary and secondary sources to help answer the questions.

After 20 minutes of working on this activity, click “PLAY” to view the answers. All participants should write the answers to all questions.

Discussion Questions

  • How have voting rights evolved over the last 150 years?
  • What is the current state of voting rights in America?
  • Are there any current threats to voting in your community? State? Region?
  • How can you become involved?

LESSON ONE

Activity II.

Determining Equality vs. Equity in Sample Present-Day Scenarios

Procedure

Read the two equality vs. equity scenarios below: Participants will be challenged to problem-solve an issue using the measurements of equity and equality. Each individual or group should prepare a short presentation about what informed the equal and equitable methods they chose for their scenario.

Image Courtesy of SELMA

A neighborhood meeting has been planned to discuss the building of a new shopping mall in a community. The meeting will be held in English, however, approximately 25% of people in the community do not speak English as their first language. What are some examples of an equal way and then what are some examples of an equitable way to accommodate the meeting’s attendees so everyone will be able to understand and participate in the discussion? Which outcome best serves the community and why?

A severe health crisis has impacted a community and many people are not able to go to their jobs safely, therefore, individuals and families are forced to stay home. The local businesses in the community want elected state leaders to send a financial stipend to everyone living in the community in order to help cover their bills while they are out of work. However, not everyone is out of work and some people are able to continue working in their jobs from home. What are some examples of an equal way and then what are some examples of an equitable way to support the individuals and families who need financial support? Which outcome best serves the community and why?

Scenario A

A neighborhood meeting has been planned to discuss the building of a new shopping mall in a community. The meeting will be held in English, however, approximately 25% of people in the community do not speak English as their first language. What are some examples of an equal way and then what are some examples of an equitable way to accommodate the meeting’s attendees so everyone will be able to understand and participate in the discussion? Which outcome best serves the community and why?

Scenario B

A severe health crisis has impacted a community and many people are not able to go to their jobs safely, therefore, individuals and families are forced to stay home. The local businesses in the community want elected state leaders to send a financial stipend to everyone living in the community in order to help cover their bills while they are out of work. However, not everyone is out of work and some people are able to continue working in their jobs from home. What are some examples of an equal way and then what are some examples of an equitable way to support the individuals and families who need financial support? Which outcome best serves the community and why?

Discussion Questions

  • How does your chosen equitable method address or dismiss the needs of the marginalized groups?
  • How might your chosen equal method support or neglect the unique needs of certain community members?
  • Take time to consider how each of your chosen methods might play out in reality. Would your equitable method truly help level the playing field? Why or why not?
  • Name a current-day, real-world scenario where you could apply this test of equality vs. equity.

LESSON ONE

Digging Deeper with SELMA Online

“The events depicted in the Paramount Pictures movie SELMA and Teaching Tolerance’s documentary film Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot are part of a larger history of oppression and resistance that can be traced to the founding of colonial societies in what is now the United States. The original, indigenous peoples of the region governed themselves by a variety of political systems. The Iroquois Confederacy, founded in 1142, is the oldest living participatory democracy on earth. Some elements of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace would influence the creation of the United States as a constitutional republic in 1787. But when it came to the franchise, the framers of the U.S. Constitution left it to the states to decide who had the right to vote. At first, all states gave the right to vote to property-owning white males, while many states enfranchised all adult white males. New Jersey allowed some property-owning women to vote before removing that right in 1807, while free African-American property owners could vote in North Carolina until 1835. By the time of the Civil War (1861) the right to vote was guaranteed to all white male citizens and to a small number of African-American men in the five Northern states. In New York, Black men needed to own $250 of property to vote. However, most state constitutions, in both the North and South, explicitly denied African Americans and women the right to vote.”

LESSON ONE

Additional Resources

“Why is the right to vote in America still a fight? From voter suppression to disenfranchisement, see the roadblocks that stop voices from being heard.” Netflix presents “Whose Vote Counts?”
Between 1870 and 1877, during Reconstruction, over 2,000 Black men were elected to office in the United States. Then what happened?
You may know the names Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton when it comes to securing women’s right to vote in America. But did you know activists Sojourner Truth and Zitkala-Sa helped women obtain the right to vote? PBS and The Origin of Everything bring you “6 Suprising Facts about the 19th Amendment.”
Did you know that the results of the U.S. Census can impact your daily life, including who represents you in government and how the government distributes funds and assistance in your neighborhood? Did you know that the law requires that you participate in the census? Watch “What’s the U.S. Census and Why’s it so Important” from NBC News.
What’s next?

Lesson 2: The Art of Persuasion

What’s next?

Lesson 2: The Art of Persuasion

What’s next?

Lesson 2: The Art of Persuasion

Selma 101