Invisable and Disposable

The “Sameness as fairness” mentality is only a mask worn to justify policies and decisions being made that undermine humankinds potential and make people comfortable blaming the victim. It is a mask used to cover-up the truths (the neoliberal, neoconservative agenda’s) that perpetuate institutional racism and sexism and limit us from living as a free and prosperous society.

“The “sameness as fairness” principle-the mandate for common curriculum and common culture-is taken up as a response to any form of difference that offends the growing monolingual and monocultural sensibility of the conservative right and its public”(Gutierrez, 120). The “Standard English only (one size fits all curricula), where” differences is seen as deviance has given rise to new discourse of surveillance and intolerance.”(117). Creating a backlash against difference, which only helps support the neoliberal, neoconservative agenda to privatize the public sphere. Creating what Gutierrez describes as,” market place reform” – “reform that brings business principals of efficiency, accountability, quality, and choice to establish the educational agenda”(109); which in turn objectifies us, turning humankind into a commodity. And once we are seen as a commodity, we then become disposable (Van Jones, 2010).

Once we see people as disposable and ultimately objects they can become invisible, removed from our consciousness, no longer beings with human emotions and feelings. And this is how we begin to understand the double standard of ones choices and the lack of responsibility taken for their actions.

When fairness becomes defined as invisibility we begin to understand what makes people say one thing and then act another way with no regard to the hypocrisy of their actions?

Fairness is the comfortable jacket we wear when we support anti-immigration reform and turn around higher illegal immigrants to mow our lawns.

Fairness is our ability to purchase drugs from young black men and then turn around and lock them up for selling them.

Fairness allows us to condemn abortion, but use birth control.

Fairness blames the war on drugs on Mexican drug lords instead of acknowledging the rampant drug use in America.

Fairness justifies our actions, which is ultimately is why the world does not change.

And in order to change, we have to acknowledge that sameness is NOT fairness. And as, Purcell-Gates perfectly states, “The “sameness as fairness” framework must be replaced with a race-, class-, and gender-conscious equity framework that will make such inequalities visible and a humanistic vision a reality”(121).