My Name Is Equality

My name is Equality.
It takes time for people to understand me.
In fact, many never do.

To some I am a word, nothing more.
To others I am a dream come true.

To many I am a lifelong friend.
To some, a promise that was broken.

Would you like to know who I really am?

I am a doorkeeper.
I stand beside a door called Opportunity.
I invite every man to make as much of his life as he can.

You see, I belong to Everyone or I belong to No One.
You cannot claim my benefits for yourself and deny them to others.

If you close the door to schools or to jobs,
or to voting booths, or to housing or to marriage,
You close the door on another man's opportunities, on his future.

My job is to keep that door open.
And All men must help.

For if you are strong enough to close the door on others,
Someone will be strong enough to close it on you.