In what sense are people equal and unequal?

No.11697458 ViewReplyOriginalReport
So much of social policy is based on the assumption that genders, races, and cultures are theoretically equal in their potential. For example, results from studies of the gender pay gap, disparities of income and incarceration by ethnicity, etc. are made controversial only because their cause is labeled as systemic to the structure of society rather than scientific by means of some intrinsic property of the populations examined. What is the truth?