Fact Sheet 1: Defining Equity

Summary

Before beginning to tackle systemic racism, organizations must identify the language needed to ensure equitable policy analysis. Fact Sheet 1 identifies common language necessary for social policy advocates to ground their work. By defining the recurring vocabulary used in this series, organizations can analyze policies through a racial equity lens.

“To achieve equity, we must consider race in every step of our policy analysis.”

Takeaways

  • Today, inequitable outcomes for people of color are the result of decades of policy and systems that disregarded or intentionally hampered them.
  • Aligning on terms and concepts is one of the first steps to embedding equity into organizational culture. This can be accomplished by sharing this fact sheet with co-workers and holding in-depth staff discussions.