Conrad Hackett Nov 28, 2022

A decade ago, this image went mega-viral on Google+. In the ensuing years, it has been adapted and reused thousands of times.

@cra1g created this instantly viral image and tells the story of its evolution here:
https://medium.com/@CRA1G/the-evolution-of-an-accidental-meme-ddc4e139e0e4
@sociology @politicalscience

The Evolution of an Accidental Meme - Craig Froehle - Medium

My jaw hit the keyboard…that was my image, but it also wasn’t my image. It was the concept behind my image, but completely redrawn (and by someone with actual artistic talent!). I was stunned…and…

Medium
Show threadparallelarts
@conradhackett @cra1g @sociology @politicalscience Interesting. When I first encountered this graphic, the image on the left was titled "Equality," and the image on the right was titled "Equity."
Nov 28, 2022 at 5:59pmWeb
Show threadCraig FroehleNov 28, 2022
@parallelarts That was someone else's relabeling of the image, which kicked off my scholarly interests in organizational justice. Equity has traditionally been used to mean allocation proportional to someone's contributions or merits, but it's more recently caught traction to mean proportional to one's needs. I suspect this meme is partly why.
Show threadparallelartsNov 28, 2022
@cra1g I wonder if the relabeling occurred with the other image. For me, the equity message is so strong - the other message seems relatively simplistic and communicates a kind of self-congratulatory "us-vs-them" message.
Show threadCraig FroehleNov 28, 2022
@parallelarts Well, I originally made the meme to explain my position to one other person, with whom I was having a political discussion/debate, and I never really expected it to go beyond that. At the time, my awareness of the definition of "equity" was rooted in equity theory, which doesn't concern itself with needs, only merit.
Show threadparallelartsNov 28, 2022
@cra1g I understand. Thanks for clarification. I actually did not pick up on the fact that you were the creator of this graphic.
Show threadJonathan McAreaveyNov 28, 2022
@cra1g @parallelarts
What would your thoughts be on replacing the word with “fairness”?
Show threadCraig FroehleNov 28, 2022
@mcareaveyjb @parallelarts "Fairness," at least in American English, is a vague umbrella term that doesn't offer sufficient precision to be used in a prescriptive way like this requires. I'm now OK with "equity" being used for the right-hand side, but that required me going back to some of the earliest writings on organizational justice to see how to reconcile it with the merit-based use of that word. The secret is realizing that equity is distributive justice based on *proportionality*.
Show threadTransitBikerNov 29, 2022
@cra1g @mcareaveyjb @parallelarts situational context aware justice.
Show threadEmpireNov 29, 2022

@cra1g @parallelarts I'm not familiar with "equity" being associated with needs or contribution, but in a strictly economic sense it can be interpreted as being evenly distributed by value.

It's obvious that the tallest spectator has little to lose by offering a position to the shortest, and it would ultimately result in a uniform distribution of value.

Maybe the short guy is a jerk who doesn't deserve to see the game and bullies the tall guy into it, who knows. It could still be "unfair".

Show threadCraig FroehleNov 29, 2022
@empire Equity theory dates back to the late 1950s/early 1960s and was driven by the realization that people expect some sort of proportionality regarding their pay and their effort. That concept - proportionality - then was extended to attributes other than effort/contribution to expertise, seniority, need, etc. Equity investments return shares of the profits proportional to how much $ folks contributed, so it's the same idea.
Show threadSisAveNov 30, 2022

@cra1g @empire I have always had a bit of confusion over the difference between equality and equity. Found this definition:

EQUITY
The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances.

Thanks for sharing, it’s very kind of you to share it so freely 😁

Show threadCraig FroehleNov 30, 2022
@SisAve Thanks for sharing that, but I have to say that definition doesn't match up well with the vast majority of the scholarly or historical writing on the subject. Where did you find it?
Show threadSisAveDec 1, 2022

@cra1g
naceweb.org

Lol, I googled 😬 it was like the third or fourth hit down 🤷‍♀️

Show threadSisAveDec 1, 2022
@cra1g It seems to me, the way people use the word this is what they seem to be implying to me. Unless I’m totally missing the mark.
Show threadCraig FroehleDec 1, 2022
@SisAve People use the word in all sorts of ways, many of which contradict each other. Equality is indeed a dimension of "fairness" and equity is another one. Equity is NOT fairness all by itself, so using the two words synonymously is incorrect.
Show threadSisAveDec 3, 2022
@cra1g Oh. Ok, thanks for helping clarify that!
Show threadSilverGirlNov 28, 2022
@cra1g @parallelarts Thank you for the artwork! Is the relabeling of the image ok with you? It made the concept of 'proportional to one's needs' so clear for me. I so appreciate the visual representation. It's powerful even without labels.
Show threadCraig FroehleNov 28, 2022
@seeme @parallelarts I'm 100% ok with folks doing whatever they like with/to the image...as long as it helps us have this conversation, it's a plus.
Show threadGrantNov 29, 2022

@cra1g @seeme @parallelarts

In the background, we see a stadium, built to form a 'slope' so that all can see.

Show threadPeter ButlerNov 30, 2022

@cra1g @parallelarts I've seen posters of the Equality/Equity version (with the redrawn people) in our elementary schools here.

Thanks for sharing your story. I had no idea of the background.

Show threadCraig FroehleNov 30, 2022
@peterbutler That is so awesome to hear, Peter...thanks for the happy news. :-) Kids seem to grok this concept way easier than some adults do.