A Closer Look Editor's Column: Equality isn't equal

Editorial Cartoon: Sabrina Robinson, Graphics Editor

Hey, you know that thing in Hollywood where all the celebrities go to decide if that light-skinned man named Oscar would finally acknowledge their careers?

Did you watch it?

No? You’re not the only one. So I’ll just sum it up for you.

It was a strange Hollywood version of C-SPAN and Woodstock.

And I was thoroughly entertained. Those moments that make the producers cringe because a loose tongue said something that can’t be undone are teachable to me.

Like when Sean Penn asked, "Who gave this son of a b!@#$ his green card," when presenting the Oscar for best picture to Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, and it sent Twitter into flux.

Or Best Supporting Actress winner Patricia Arquette’s controversial post-acceptance speech:

"[It’s time for] all the women in America and all the men that love women and all the gay people and people of color that we’ve all fought for to fight for us now."

These comments didn’t upset me.

As I said, teachable. These celebrities, who prove to have eyes and ears confirmed my suspicions.

Equality isn’t equal.

As in all things, inequality is complex and has many layers. But many people fail to realize that.

A Black or Muslim woman in America is not making the same money as a Black, White or Hispanic man.

A gay person who is either White, Latin or Asian can’t get married everywhere in America.

An award-winning director who is Mexican will always be The Mexican director.

People all around the world need to realize that equality does not segregate.

We are fighting stereotypes just as much as we’re fighting racism, which some could argue are the same thing.

The few people who got it right were John Legend and the father of my children plus fall commencement speaker, Common, when they accepted the Oscar award for best original song in Selma.

"We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that happened 50 years ago, but we say Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now. We know that the voting rights, the act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now in this country today," Legend said.

Let’s put the ALL back in equality.