Equality: Equal Treatment or Equal Opportunity?

Is it fair or just to create equality by allowing special rights or accommodations to certain groups or individuals? I think it is. The foundation for my position is simple: How can we have the same rights for everyone when no one is the same? In November, I watched a video in Social Studies class about equal rights. The video focused on several situations where rules could be challenged and how people got their way. One example was about a man in a wheelchair who wanted to watch a movie at a local theater. However, when he went to choose a seat, he quickly realized that he had no choice about where he could view the film. He was stuck watching from in front of the first row, which is usually not a preferred spot for watching a movie. This man took the theater to court for not giving him an equal opportunity to choose where to view the movie. The theater lost the court battle, and from then on, set a precedent for all movie theaters to reserve sections in their facilities for the disabled. There are now wheelchair-accessible views from the front, middle, and back of many theaters around the world. The underlined issue in the above case was not about being treated equally, but rather being given an equal opportunity. No one was being treated more superior than another, no one was denied the opportunity to watch the movie, but when it came to the choice of seating, there was an inequality. Now, thanks to this man, that’s all changed. The case was much the same in an example of two female high school students who wanted to go for a lead part in the school production but couldn’t because all the lead parts were for males. The two girls were given the equal right to participate in the production, but they were not given an equal opportunity for the part that they wanted. As a result, the rules were changed. The school’s first play featured males in the lead parts, and the second featured females. We watched a third example, this time about a young female hockey player who, again, had to be given special rights to achieve equality. In this case, all youngsters were given the equal right to play ice hockey. Males played in a male league, and females played in a female league.