A six year old in the PSA extended family recently remarked, upon seeing people without coats during cold weather: “Everyone should have their OWN coat.” This has engendered a sort of “understanding varies by personal world view” response.
Did he mean to say “it is the personal responsibility of everyone to obtain their own coat”?
OR did he mean to say “it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure everyone has their own coat” ?
In one of those synchronicity moments, there’s an article in the New Yorker that goes into extreme depth of the above question. What do we mean by “equality”, and whose responsibility is it to achieve it? After reading the somewhat lengthy article, one comes away with new respect for the ambiguities of life, and one also wonders what the six year old in question might think of this whole big complex issue later in life, when his brain has a more complete formation.
And of course we are hoping to “do better with equality” in the coming years, whatever that might “mean” or entail.
For us now, questions about what Community Schools might be in terms of ‘Obtaining Coats’ are open for interpretation. We know there are Community Schools where services are not going to include the need for ‘Obtaining Coats’, but other needs on Marlow’s Hierarchy come into play…which are still based in what a “community” creates. We know there are Community Schools where many survival level and above services are needed, such as basic food, shelter, and clothing…yes, ‘Obtaining Coats’ for real.
What do those differing needs have in common and how can Community Schools effectively meet them? That’s a very good question. Perhaps the below article might give us a starting point of some sort for finding the answers.
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Equality-Conundrum-The-New-Yorker.pdf”]