Americans are relatively new to talking about equity, particularly in the context of social justice. While organizations working in social justice commonly use the term “equity,” not everyone shares a common understanding of what it means. Just over half of respondents offered some sort of relevant social-justice response, such as “equality” or “fairness.” The other half offered other definitions, such as “home equity” and “money,” or said they didn’t know.
This points to the need for clear, explicit definitions when communicating about the word equity.