How does equality of opportunity differ from equality of results? Why are some politicians and civil rights leaders focusing less on equality for individuals and more on equality between groups?

Question

What kind of change in the civil rights focus may be necessary because of the growing gap between rich and poor? How could a focus on economic disparity promote civil rights for all people, regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation?

Answer 1

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Identify equality of opportunity as the idea that all people deserve a chance at individual achievement regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation, while equality of results refers to issues of social justice, such as the question of whether genuine equality can exist in a nation where some people have so much and others so little.
2. Discuss how equality in terms of either opportunities or results is difficult to achieve when large disparities in wealth and advantage exist between groups, whether it is men and women, black and white, or rich and poor.
3. Detail how the growing gap between rich and poor is causing some to contend that that more attention needs to be paid to economic inequality and class differences, focusing on how to support policies that will help the disadvantaged have more opportunities.
4. Evaluate how focusing on economic disparity issues could help all people. Answers will vary, but some may discuss the Occupy Wall Street movement, the global economic network and multinational corporations, and so on to illustrate the growing gap between rich and poor, and how it makes achieving equal opportunity as well as results difficult for those without wealth and advantage, and how it harms civil rights by putting so many at a disadvantage from the outset.