equal opportunity

in 1945, congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas said, "We cannot legislate equality but we can legislate ... equal opportunity for all." Decades later, inequalities of opportunity still exist on sexual, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, age, and other grounds. Anecdote: a female anchor was reassured that she and the new male anchor were indeed equals, that he had been hired simply to co-anchor the show. But, as a subsequent court case showed, he was in fact the lead or primary anchor. The broadcasting company president testified that the media consultant told him a male-female anchor team should be equals. But another anchor said he was told by that same media consultant that the "male is the first among equals." The concept of equal opportunity, which has been closely tied to affirmative action programs designed to ensure equal access to jobs, housing, and schools, has been difficult for people to comprehend, whereas most people understand that equalizing the playing field in golf means that golfers of varying abilities have somewhat equal chances of competing with each other.